Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister Ehud Barak are trying to convince their cabinet to support an attack on Iran, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

Citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, the newspaper said Netanyahu was working to win a majority in favor of a strike against Iran, but there is currently "a small advantage" in the cabinet for those opposed to an attack.

Palestinian leaders reacted angrily after Israel said it would build 2,000 settler homes and freeze the transfer of Palestinian tax funds to punish them for joining UNESCO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner cabinet decided on Tuesday to speed up construction in east Jerusalem and in nearby settlements, a day after UNESCO's general assembly voted Palestine in as a full member.

Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz on Tuesday noted that U.S. allegations of Iranian involvement in a plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to Washington did not "require an agreement" with Tehran concerning its hajj pilgrims, Agence France Presse reported.

AFP quoted the prince earlier on Tuesday as saying that "there can be no compromise with Iran concerning the assassination bid because there is no need for it." However, the agency later corrected that version, noting that it had misinterpreted the crown prince’s remarks.

Syria and the Arab League have agreed on a roadmap to end violence in the country, Damascus said, but a top official of the regional organization said it was still awaiting Tuesday the expected formal response.

"Syria and the Arab League are in agreement over the final paper concerning the situation in Syria and the official announcement will be made at Arab League headquarters tomorrow (Wednesday)," Syrian state television and the SANA news agency said early Tuesday evening.

Thousands of Syrians staged a rally in support of embattled President Bashar al-Assad in eastern Syria on Tuesday, state television said, as activists reported a counter rally in the same area.

Meanwhile four people were killed on Tuesday in violence in the protests-wracked country, including an army officer and a soldier who were shot dead by gunmen in the northwestern Idlib province, a rights watchdog reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he believes the Syrian opposition will be successful in their “glorious resistance” to the ongoing government crackdown, Turkey’s English-language daily Today’s Zaman reported Tuesday.

Speaking during his Justice and Development Party's parliamentary bloc meeting on Tuesday, Erdogan warned that Turkey cannot remain silent in the face of the events in Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday his country would oppose a Libya-style military intervention against the Syrian regime which is battling months-long democracy protests.

"We have many questions ... after the U.N. Security Council adopted the Libyan resolution," allowing military intervention to protect civilian lives, and "after the Libyan drama," he said in Abu Dhabi, speaking in English.

Syria will respond Tuesday to an Arab League proposal to end violence between regime forces and protesters, an Arab diplomat said, a day before Arab foreign ministers were due to hold talks on the issue.

The Arab League official said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem had asked on Monday for changes to the proposal, which calls on President Bashar Assad to end violence against protesters and begin talks with his opposition.

Iran has sent a letter to the United States seeking an "apology" over allegations of an Iranian assassination plot on U.S. soil, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday.

"A letter has been sent... It is our right to seek the official apology of the Americans in protest of this made-up scenario as these allegations are not true at all," Mehmanparast told a news conference, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a meeting of his inner cabinet on Tuesday to consider a response to UNESCO's decision to admit Palestine, officials and local media said.

Israeli media said the so-called Forum of Eight would meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss a response to UNESCO's decision a day earlier to admit Palestine as a full member despite U.S. and Israeli objections.