The Israeli army is reportedly preparing for the possibility that Syria might use Hizbullah to launch attacks on the Jewish state to divert attention from the growing protests against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The Israeli daily Haaretz on Wednesday quoted intelligence officials as saying that despite their earlier assessments that the Syrian regime was stable, and the unrest sweeping the Arab world would not affect it, they now believe it will be very hard for Assad to restore the status quo ante.

Bahrain on Tuesday warned its citizens against travel to Lebanon following comments by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom.

"Due to threats and interference by terrorists," the foreign ministry said, "it warns and advises its citizens not to travel to the Republic of Lebanon as they might face dangers threatening their safety."

President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday noted that broadening the circle of contacts and meetings among the political parties was "an attempt to make a breakthrough in the ongoing consultations to form the new government."

"The current period requires everyone, without exception, to rise above disputes, selfishness and individual shares and interests for the sake of the rise of a government that garners confidence and works on boosting the productivity of ministries, administrations and institutions," the president added.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday denied that he was behind the delay in forming the new cabinet, accusing President Michel Suleiman of “crippling governance and state institutions.”

Briefing reporters after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun said that “whatever the shape of the new cabinet may be, it remains the cabinet of the new majority.”

Two percussion bombs were thrown Tuesday from a speeding car near the HQ of Free Lebanon Radio in the Keserwan neighborhood of Adonis.

The state-run National News Agency said four unidentified individuals in a black SUV tossed the bombs a few meters away from the radio station’s building.

Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri has criticized Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for claiming to be “the spiritual leader of revolutions in the Arab world.”

“Hizbullah’s leadership is seeking to make changes in the Arab world via the Iranian way and wants the Lebanese to agree on turning their country into an arena that exports revolutions,” Hariri told al-Mustaqbal and Beirut families that visited him at Center House on Monday night.

The Israeli army kidnapped two Lebanese shepherds in the southern town of Rmeish near the border between the two countries, UNIFIL spokesman Niraj Singh said Tuesday.

He said the Israeli army informed U.N. peacekeepers that they arrested the shepherds at 10:15 am after they allegedly crossed the U.N.-drawn Blue Line.

Several halls at Beirut’s Justice Palace were evacuated on Tuesday after a bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax, the state-run National News Agency reported.

It said a man made an anonymous phone call saying a bomb was planted in one of the halls. However, a bomb disposal squad did not find any explosives after a thorough search.

Caretaker Minister Ghazi Aridi confirmed on Tuesday that the meeting between National Struggle Front leader Walid Jumblat and Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun was a continuation to previous talks held between the two parties.

Jumblat’s meeting with Aoun “doesn’t necessarily mean that the cabinet will be formed,” Aridi told Voice of Mada radio station.

Former U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman reportedly asked Washington to pressure Israel into keeping the Greater Beirut Area intact during the 2006 war with Hizbullah.

In a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday, Feltman said destroying bridges that link Beirut with the Christian heartland which he described as “Maronistan” would isolate Christian towns from each other.