Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam on Sunday stressed that resistance against Israel is legitimate, but noted that “the decisions of war and peace must rest in the hands of the Lebanese state.”

In an interview with BBC, Salam revealed that Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi relayed to him a message from Iran's leadership on Sunday, in which Tehran “wished him success in forming a new cabinet and stressed its keenness on the resistance.”

A Cyprus court sentenced a self-confessed Hizbullah member on Thursday to four years in jail after he was convicted of involvement in a plot to attack Israeli interests on the island.

The official Cyprus News Agency said the criminal court in the south coast city of Limassol sentenced Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, a dual Lebanese and Swedish citizen, to four years minus time already served in prison since last July.

Bahrain's parliament approved on Tuesday in an unprecedented step an urgent proposal to label Hizbullah a terrorist organization, calling on the cabinet to coordinate with the country's Foreign Ministry and with its counterparts in the Gulf Cooperation Council's nations to put the suggestion in force.

The proposal was referred to the cabinet after it succeeded in receiving a majority vote at the parliament.

The rebel Free Syria Army announced on Monday that it believes Hizbullah and Iran might have been involved in the assassination attempt of FSA Commander Riad al-Asaad in eastern Syria.

"I do not think the opposition has any role in the attack on al-Asaad but there are other undercover parties that might have been involved,” FSA Joint Command spokesman Fahd al-Masri told radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5).

Head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad stated on Sunday that Prime Minister Najib Miqati's resignation has caused “a huge vacuum in the country”, remarking that the premier has “disassociated himself from anticipated political hurricanes.”

Raad said at the one week commemoration of the death Hizbullah member Nimr Shartouni who was killed in Syria that the resignation “is not a matter of extending a public employee's term”: “The premier might have felt that he has abused all his potentials to safeguard stability in the country.”

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday urged President Michel Suleiman to act in order to spare Lebanon the “consequences” of Hizbullah's “participation” in the Syrian military conflict and the controversial remarks voiced by Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour at the Arab League.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc also “strongly condemned the remarks voiced by Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, who confirmed once again the participation in combat alongside the Syrian regime and admitted arming and training gunmen fighting in Syria.”

Islamist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir called on Hizbullah on Sunday to “recognize how things are developing in the southern city of Sidon before the situation gets out of control”, warning the cabinet that not responding to his demands will “alert his movements”.

“We will escalate our movements in a completely different manner if our demands were not answered,” Asir stated in a speech he gave after he lead his supporters in a march towards Sidon’s Abra neighborhood apartments where allegedly Hizbullah gunmen reside.

The joint command of the rebel Free Syrian Army on Tuesday accused Hizbullah of “preparing to send between 4,000-5,000 fighters to Syria via Homs over the next few days.”

“On Sunday evening, Hizbullah trained its members in the Western Bekaa area near the Lebanese town of Mashghara, in preparation for sending a new batch of fighters to Syria,” the joint command said in a statement.

Israel's armed forces chief Lieutenant General Benny Gantz ruled out on Friday reports saying that Hizbullah possesses chemical weapons, warning the party and Syria that the Israeli army is fully ready to face any emergency in the region.

"Israel will respond to any development that might shake the security balance in the region,” Benny stated during a meeting with high school students in Israel.

The rebel Free Syrian Army stated on Wednesday that it is not seeking to start a military confrontation with Hizbullah on the Lebanese border, stressing however, that it will respond to any attack by the party.

"I have personally asked President Michel Suleiman to intervene and prevent Hizbullah from bombing our locations,” FSA chief of staff General Selim Idriss revealed during an interview on Future television.