Qatari envoy Jassem Al-Thani has arrived in Beirut and will exert efforts to facilitate the stalled Lebanese presidential election file, al-Jadeed TV has reported.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday denied a media report claiming that he intends to quit politics.

France hopes to avoid "an escalation" on the border between Israel and Lebanon, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces reiterated on Monday in Tel Aviv, where he met political figures including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"No one, neither in Tel Aviv, nor in Jerusalem, nor in Beirut, wants war. (...) The real challenge for us is to ensure that this escalation, which may seem inevitable, does not happen," declared Sébastien Lecornu in an interview with AFP.

Hezbollah targeted Tuesday Israeli troops and positions as Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling targeted Lebanese border villages.

Hezbollah said it targeted the Israeli army's northern command center in response to "recent assassinations and repeated attacks on civilians" in Lebanon and Syria.

The number of people killed by Israeli fire into south Lebanon since the start of the war in Gaza has risen to more than 200, according to an AFP tally.

Since the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel on October 7, the Lebanese-Israeli border has witnessed a near-daily exchange of fire between Israel's army and Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, an ally of Gaza-based Hamas.

The capitals concerned with the Gaza negotiations are saying that talks to end the war will begin in the final days of this week, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Monday.

Authorities in Turkey are investigating eight bodies that washed up in the Mediterranean province of Antalya, including two found Monday on a beach in the vacation resort of Serik.

The Antalya governor's office said one body is believed to be a Turkish citizen who was reported missing. Authorities believe the seven other bodies discovered over the past week may be migrants from a boat that went missing off the coast near the Syria-Lebanon border last month on its way to Cyprus.

Hezbollah is maintaining its support for the presidential nomination of Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh and it does not see any reason to change its stance, the pro-Hezbollah daily al-Akhbar reported on Monday.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said that Israel will not cease fire on Lebanon’s front without guarantees.

The “equation” with Hezbollah “must change," senior Israeli officers have said, suggesting Israel “announce it is holding fire for 48 hours but if one missile, rocket land inside Israel, massive disproportionate attack must be launched wreaking havoc on south Lebanon,” Israeli English-language news portal Ynetnews has reported.

"It’s time for a new equation," the Israeli officers said.