Israel is determined to implement the lessons it learned from the Second Lebanon War, and to define its targets more clearly, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Saturday.

The report pointed out that Hizbullah’s launch of the Iranian-made drone, which penetrated Israeli airspace last Saturday, served as a reminder of the complicated balance of deterrent power between the sides.

The U.N. Security Council is poised to adopt a draft resolution paving the way for military intervention in Mali Friday, French officials said.

The resolution seeks a detailed plan within 30 days from West Africa's ECOWAS regional body, the African Union and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on an international military intervention in Mali in a bid to oust militants from the country's north.

France will provide logistical, political and material support for U.N.-backed African military intervention in Mali, President Francois Hollande promised on Tuesday.

France is pushing for a U.N. Security Council resolution which will authorize west African countries to establish a force capable of reclaiming control of northern Mali from Islamic radicals.

Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's defense office Francois Roux said that his current visit to Lebanon is a routine visit as he is keen to maintain the ties with authorities and the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations to remind all sides of the right of the defendants to have a fair trial, noting that the date of trials on March 25 could be changed.

He described the visit in comments published in An Nahar as “good and useful.”

France on Thursday said a Syrian attack on Turkey which killed five civilians was a serious threat to global security and peace and called for an immediate halt to such strikes.

"This violation of international law constitutes a serious threat to global security and peace," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.

Russia on Thursday voiced concern at the "deteriorating" situation between Syria and Turkey, where cross-border shelling has heightened tensions.

Turkey resumed fire on Syrian positions on Thursday, reportedly killing several soldiers, in revenge for mortar fire on Wednesday which killed five Turkish civilians.

Russia on Tuesday urged the West not to "search for pretexts" in order to conduct direct operations in Syria while also calling on Damascus and Ankara to exercise restraint along their flashpoint border.

"In our contacts with NATO partners... we call upon them not to search for pretexts to carry out a military scenario or initiatives like humanitarian corridors and buffer zones," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon's Appeals Chamber kicked off on Monday a second open hearing to hear the appeal against the decision on the jurisdiction and the legality of the Tribunal.

The Trial Chamber dismissed on July 27 the four Defense motions challenging the jurisdiction and legality of the Tribunal.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged China, Iran and Russia Sunday to end their support for the Syrian regime, warning that "history will not forgive" their stance in the face of mounting bloodshed.

"Please rethink your current attitude. History will not forgive those who have sided with these brutal regimes," Erdogan said in a speech at a congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Iran's foreign minister on Friday demanded that the U.N. Security Council act against the countries that killed Iranian nuclear scientists and launched cyber-attacks against its atomic research.

Without naming Israel or the United States, which Iran has accused over the killings of four scientists, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran had been a victim of "nuclear terrorism."