Beirut  - Angry Lebanese and Palestinian demonstrators protesting Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip clashed with Lebanese security forces near the US embassy north of Beirut on Sunday, as the Palestinian group Hamas confirmed a one-week truce in Gaza.

The Lebanese police used tear gas and water cannons when the demonstrators broke through barbed wire placed just a few meters from the US embassy located in Awkar, 15 kilometres north of Beirut.

At least six demonstrators were wounded in the clashes.

The police initially managed to disperse the crowd, but the demonstrators regrouped and continued their protest near the embassy.

Beirut - Visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concerns over the firing of Katyusha rockets from Lebanon into Israel.

"I am concerned for the situation in the south, any additional aggression threatens the stability of UNSCR 1701. I call on everyone in Lebanon and Israel to control themselves to maintain stability," Ban, who arrived in Beirut late Friday, told the Lebanese parliament

Last week, the tension in southern heightened after unidentified militants fired several rockets into the northern Israeli settlement prompting Israel to fire back at areas where the rockets where launched from.

Beirut - A Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan said Saturday that even if Israel approves a unilateral ceasefire, Hamas' resistance will continue.

"As long as Gaza is occupied by Zionist soldiers the confrontations will continue even if Israel approves a unilateral ceasefire," Hamdan told Deustche Presse-Agentur dpa by phone.

"There is a plot to change the course of the Egyptian proposal for a truce because the unilateral ceasefire does not call for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza," he said.

Beirut - Lebanese Christian MP Michel Aoun, a close ally of Islamist movement Hezbollah said Thursday he will not meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during his visit to Lebanon in protest what he called the UN's "silence" on Gaza.

"The fighting must stop and the UN should help in this regard," Aoun was quoted by Lebanese radio as saying.

The UN chief is scheduled to pay a visit to Lebanon on Friday and to deliver a speech in parliament during his two-day visit.

Beirut  - Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr said Tuesday Lebanon will not give Israel an excuse to launch an aggression against the country.

"The army, the resistance, and the people are determined not to give Israel any excuse to launch aggression against Lebanon," Murr told reporters.

Beirut - UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon plans to visit Lebanon on Friday to discuss the current situation in Gaza and the Middle East region, Lebanese government sources said.