Israel's former National Security Adviser Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror has warned that Hizbullah poses one of the biggest threats to the Jewish State in 2015, saying its arsenal has exceeded the firepower of most European states combined.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Amidror as saying that the Israeli army must prepare for three challenges this year - a large-scale ground war against Hizbullah, a war of attrition with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and a potential military operation in Iran.

Five Canadians have died fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria, including a man who called for lone wolf attacks in Canada, local media reported Wednesday.

The National Post said Ottawa-born John Maguire, who joined IS jihadists in Syria in January 2013, died Wednesday in the flashpoint town Kobane. 

A U.S. man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly plotting an attack on Congress inspired by Islamic State jihadists, according to the Justice Department and the FBI.

Christopher Cornell, 20, was taken into custody after he purchased two semi-automatic weapons and 600 rounds of ammunition in the U.S. state Ohio, according to a criminal complaint. 

Two-thirds of the hundreds of thousands of Syrian war refugees in Jordan are living in poverty, the head of the U.N. refugee agency warned Wednesday, calling for "massive" international aid.

"The conclusions... are extremely worrying for us all," Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), told a news conference in Amman at which he presented a detailed report.

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday criticized the international community for the slow response to the conflict in Syria, in a speech to troops aboard the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier.

"I continue to regret the fact that the international community did not act in the required time to stop massacres in Syria and prevent extremists from gaining even more ground," he said.

A key opposition group tolerated by Syria's regime is still studying whether to accept a Russian invitation to talks this month with government officials, dissident figure Haytham Mannaa said Wednesday.

The exiled National Coalition and leading opposition figure, Moaz al-Khatib, have already announced they will skip the talks that are aimed at finding a political solution to end Syria's nearly four-year war.

Al-Qaida-linked militants have publicly executed a woman accused of adultery in northwestern Syria, a monitoring group said Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that in total 14 people had been executed for alleged adultery or homosexuality in the war-torn country since July, half of them women.

The March 14 general-secretariat congratulated on Wednesday Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and security forces on the closure of the notorious block B of Roumieh prison that lies east of Beirut.

“Al-Mashnouq took a brave decision to end the chaos at Roumieh prison,” said the general-secretariat following its weekly meeting.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Western "shortsightedness" and "support for terrorism" in the revolt against his rule were to blame for last week's attacks in Paris, state media reported Wednesday.

In his first reaction to the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket which killed 17 people, Assad said he had repeatedly warned Western governments that their support for rebel groups in Syria risked a blowback of violence at home.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Wednesday voiced backing for a Russian-led bid for new talks to end Syria's devastating conflict.

Kerry, who is in Geneva for discussions with his Iranian counterpart to accelerate a deal on reining in Tehran's nuclear programme, met with U.N. peace envoy Staffan de Mistura for talks on the Syrian crisis and lauded his efforts.