A prominent Arab-Israeli human rights activist was convicted on Wednesday of spying for Lebanon's Hizbullah, a statement from the Israeli justice ministry said.

In a plea bargain submitted to the Haifa district court, Amir Makhoul "confessed to and was convicted of ... espionage and aggravated espionage," the statement said.

A group of women charged at investigators from a U.N. probe into the murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri at a Beirut Southern Suburbs gynecology clinic Wednesday, snatching a briefcase but causing no injuries, a doctor said.

Doctor Iman Sharara, who runs the private obstetrics and gynecology clinic, told reporters a team of two male investigators, their female translator and a plain clothes security officer arrived at her practice mid-morning on a scheduled appointment.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari on Wednesday described "the assault on the team of international investigators in Dahiyeh today as dangerous", noting that "it falls within the context of the all-out war being waged by March 8 forces on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon".

In a statement he issued, Makari described this assault as "dangerous, abominable, and causes a major embarrassment for Lebanon, in addition to putting it in a confrontation with the international community, since it directly targets the international legitimacy as well as those investigators representing it and performing a task according to its decisions."

Mustaqbal bloc MP Khaled Zahraman on Wednesday noted that the assault on a team of international investigators in Dahiyeh was "alarming," adding that "it might be the beginning of chaos in the country or the beginning of an attempt to disrupt security."

He stressed that it represents an "obstruction of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's work."

Physician Iman Sharara whose clinic in Beirut's southern suburbs was attacked Wednesday by a crowd of about 150 women said international investigators showed up after taking an appointment.

"A man from the investigation team by the name of Muwafaq called me over the phone on Friday asking me to set up an appointment," Sharara said.

The March 14 general secretariat condemned on Wednesday the attack against Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigators that took place in Dahiyeh today “at the hands of residents affiliated with Hizbullah that assaulted the investigators and stole their files.”

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting that the attack was reminiscent of attacks that had targeted the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in the South, “which is an attack against international legitimacy and resolutions.”

Mustaqbal MP Ammar Houri noted that voting on the false witnesses file before Cabinet means that the matter is open for discussion, which is a step back in the issue, he told Al-Liwa Wednesday.

He said: "The other team's insistence to tackle the false witnesses file at the justice council reflects their intention to obstruct the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."

A dispute broke out Wednesday between investigators from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and a crowd of women at a clinic in the southern suburbs.

Al-Manar television said the quarrel erupted before noon when investigators "surprisingly" entered the women's clinic of physician Iman Sharara in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday responded to "the campaign targeting everything related to the work of the premiership and the finance ministry," noting that "every revision with the aim of correction is a welcome thing."

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting in Qureitem under ex-PM Fouad Saniora, the bloc noted that "the parties leading the campaign" against ex-PM Rafik Hariri "are the ones who were behind … the destruction of state institutions in the past."

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday noted that "the objective of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is undermining stability rather than maintaining justice," adding that "the evidence is that many heads of state had died here (in Lebanon) before" with the United States remaining idle about their cases.

After the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc held in Rabiyeh, Aoun stressed that "the issue of the Judicial Council is clear, and everyone knows that the murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri had been referred to the Judicial Council since the beginning."