Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon does not want to intervene in the developments in Syria “because we don’t want anyone to meddle in our affairs.”

He said while meeting with a delegation of Arab ambassadors in New York: “We don’t want to interfere in its affairs because we want to defend Lebanon from any potential repercussions on the country.”

Iran has equipped its naval forces with a short range "cruise missile," able to hit targets in coastal areas and warships within "200 kilometers, the country's defense minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"Today we are witnessing the equipping of the Guards navy and army navy with ample numbers of the Qader cruise missile," General Ahmad Vahidi said, quoted by his ministry's website referring to the elite Revolutionary Guards who are tasked with defending Iranian waters in the Gulf.

The United States said Tuesday it was disappointed by Israel's announced plans to build new homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem.

"We are deeply disappointed," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, adding the U.S. considered the move "counterproductive to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties."

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon is always committed to implementing international resolutions, including respecting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was stipulated in a number of Lebanese government policy statements.

Miqati stressed that “if Lebanon does not secure the necessary funding for the STL, then the country will be the first victim”, adding that “We are on the verge of extending the STL work in March, and we should prepare our files to present it to the Security Council”.

Israeli's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that its district planning committee had approved a plan for 1,100 new homes in the east Jerusalem settlement neighborhood of Gilo.

"The Israeli interior ministry announced on Tuesday that the plan for 1,100 new housing units in Gilo had passed its district planning committee, and will now be available for public objections for 60 days," a ministry statement said.

The army was on Tuesday questioning an Israeli Arab who turned up on a beach in south Lebanon after swimming from Israel, a Lebanese security official said.

The National News Agency identified the man on Monday as Ahmed Jamal Daaif.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested in an interview published Tuesday that he would not seek to lure the Palestinians back to peace talks by renewing a freeze on settlement building.

"We already gave at the office," Netanyahu told The Jerusalem Post, referring to a 10-month partial settlement freeze that expired in late September 2010.

Egyptian fire fighters have managed to control a blaze at the site of a gas pipeline to Israel which was attacked overnight, the official MENA news agency said on Tuesday.

At least three gunmen in a van opened fire on a gas installation before an explosion hit the pipeline near the town of al-Arish in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, witnesses said.

An Egyptian national and his Lebanese wife were arrested in the southern region of Hasbaya on suspicion of collaborating with Israel, said the Army Command in a statement on Monday.

It explained that the couple was under surveillance for some time and the male suspect confessed that he had started working with Israeli intelligence in 1999.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Monday that Lebanon is committed to the implementation of international resolutions, noting that Israel’s failure to respect them resulted in the formation of the Resistance.

He said while hosting Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi over a luncheon banquet in the southern town of Msayleh: “The Resistance will defend Lebanon against any aggression and we say to all sides that they should protect it rather than fear it.”