Lebanese President Michel Suleiman called for unity among Arab leaders on Monday, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed, with conditions, a Palestinian state beside Israel for the first time.

"Arab leaders should be more united and preserve the spirit of resistance to face the Israeli stands regarding the peace process and the Palestinian refugee issue," Suleiman was quoted as saying by local Elnashra website.

He said the Arab peace initiative is the best available chance to achieve a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East, calling for Arab awareness to confront all challenges in case Israel maintains its extremist attitude.

On Sunday, Netanyahu endorsed the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state after weeks of pressure from Washington, but he insisted Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish state and that Palestinian refugees would not be settled inside Israel's borders.

Suleiman called on the international community to exert more pressure on the Israeli government to accept the Arab peace imitative, as he said Israel still has a will of military confrontation which can be proved in its offensives on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Israel fought a devastating 34-day war with Shiite Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in 2006, and launched a massive military onslaught against Hamas-ruled Gaza earlier this year.

Lebanon hosts over 400,000 Palestinian refugees in various refugee camps.

Source: Xinhua