Hizbullah on Monday slammed as a “condemned behavior” accusations by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe who claimed Sunday that the party had a hand in the latest attack on French U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

“Juppe made blatant accusations against Syria and Hizbullah and he himself acknowledged that he had no proof to substantiate his allegations,” Hizbullah said in a statement.

The commander of U.N. troops stationed in southern Lebanon on Monday condemned an overnight attack in which a rocket apparently fired towards Israel landed in Lebanese territory, injuring a woman.

"This is the third incident involving serious security breaches south of the Litani river in a period of two weeks," UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas said in a statement.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Monday paid homage to the French U.N. peacekeepers who were wounded in a bombing last week against their patrol in southern Lebanon, saying the attack would not dampen France's commitment to the mission in Lebanon.

Speaking at a military base in the northeastern French town of Saint Dizier, Fillon said: "I want to send a thought to the five French UNIFIL peacekeepers who were injured Friday in the south of Lebanon, in an attack whose cowardice will not shake our determination."

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said Monday that the recent firing of rockets from Lebanon against Israel “may be a message addressed from our neighbors to France,” hours after the French foreign minister accused Syria of involvement in Friday’s bomb attack on French peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

At a ceremony to honor PSP veterans in al-Mukhtara, Jumblat said: “We received yesterday the message of the rockets, and this is a dangerous message which may be addressed from our neighbors to France, via the Lebanese territory and at the expense of Lebanon’s stability, the South and entire Lebanon.”

Syria on Monday denied involvement in a bombing that wounded five French U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, a day after France said Damascus was probably behind the attack.

"Syria has no link whatsoever with this act which we condemn," foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi said in a statement that also criticized French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe for pointing a finger at Damascus.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil did not deny on Sunday that he had met with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Monday.

The meeting took place shortly after cabinet rejected Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ proposal over the wage hike.

Head of General Labor Confederation Ghassan Ghosn said on Monday that the confederation will stage a strike across Lebanon on December 27 to protest the cabinet wage hike.

According to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Ghosn stressed after a meeting for the executive council that the GLC supports the strike set by the Syndicate Coordination Committee on Thursday but won’t participate.

The cabinet is expected to witness heated debates this week as it is set to hold intensified meetings with several articles on its agenda.

Monday’s session will tackle the new electoral law draft, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

Central Bank Governor Riyad Salameh predicted that the rate of inflation in Lebanon would rise by two percent should government’s wage hike decree be implemented, reported As Safir newspaper on Monday.

He told the newspaper that should the inflation reach two percent, then next year’s inflation would be estimated at around seven to eight percent.

The security unrest witnessed in Lebanon in recent weeks, most notably Friday’s attack against the French unit in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, requires diligent governmental work that would prevent future instability, reported the daily An Nahar on Monday.

Security sources told the daily that the attack will likely increase tensions between France and Syria in light of French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe’s accusation on Sunday that Syria was “undoubtedly” behind the assault.