The White House on Friday called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to "step down now," warning he was taking his country down a "very dangerous path."

In a statement, spokesman Jay Carney condemned the killing of Kurdish opposition leader Meshaal Tamo as well as the beating of a prominent Syrian activist, saying it showed "again that the Assad regime's promises for dialogue and reform are hollow."

The French Foreign Minister voiced on Friday its “deep concern” over the safety of Syrians in Lebanon in light of reports that the Syrian army had infiltrated Lebanese territory on Thursday where it killed a Syrian national living near the border.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero stressed during a press conference that France is committed to an independent, sovereign, and secure Lebanon.

A number of Lebanese citizens living in the North demanded the Lebanese and Arab governments Friday to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus in a protest against the repression of demonstrations which had started in the Middle of last March.

According to National News Agency, a number of people from the North took part in a march in Tripoli “in solidarity with the Syrian people at an invitation from the Secular Gathering in Lebanon amidst strict security measures taken by the army and internal security forces.”

A top Kurdish activist and nine other people were killed Friday as thousands rallied in support of a new opposition front, activists said, as Washington accused Syria of escalating attacks on dissidents.

The latest violence came as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said President Bashar al-Assad will have to leave power if he fails to implement reforms acceptable to the opposition, and Damascus again blamed "terrorists" for the unrest.

Israel has warned Syrian President Bashar Assad that should Tel Aviv be attacked, then it will retaliate by bombing the Gaza Strip and the whole of Lebanon.

Israel’s NFC website reported that the Jewish state’s government relayed this message to the Syrian president through European intelligence circles.

Eight Syrians were shot dead on Friday as thousands of people rallied against the regime of President Bashar Assad and in support of a newly formed opposition front, activists said.

The fresh surge of violence came as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Assad will have to give up power if he fails to implement reforms acceptable to the opposition, and the Syrian regime again blamed "terrorists" for the unrest.

Syrians rallied in their thousands after weekly prayers on Friday, pledging support to a newly-formed opposition front and calling for an end to President Bashar Assad's regime, activists said.

Syria will shortly present the United Nations with a list of more than 1,100 people it says have been killed by "terrorists" in ongoing unrest in the country, its deputy foreign minister said Friday.

"Syria is grappling with terrorist threats," Faysal Mekdad said in a speech to the 47-state U.N. Human Rights Council at it reviewed the situation in Syria.

A heated debate rose in Lebanon on Friday over the controversial Syrian infiltration into the Lebanese territories in the eastern Bekaa valley.

In a second incident this week, Syrian troops entered the outskirts of Arsal village on Thursday and shot dead a Syrian national living there.

The European Union is preparing to target a Syrian commercial bank and 29 Iranians accused of human rights violations in fresh sanctions to be announced in the coming days, EU diplomats said Thursday.

A decision to blacklist a commercial bank is expected to be formally adopted in the coming days and come into force at the end of next week, several diplomatic sources told Agence France Presse.