The head of the Christian political party Lebanese Forces has accused Hezbollah of dragging the country into a war with Israel without consulting the people.

In a speech attacking the Shiite Muslim group, Samir Geagea, who heads the main Christian bloc in parliament, accused Hezbollah of "confiscating the Lebanese people's decision on war and peace, as if there were no state".

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has said that the FPM has always called for “consensus” and “dialogue” among the Lebanese over the presidential file.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the presidential file is “a domestic constitutional juncture that has nothing to do with the situations related to the Israeli aggression, whether in Gaza or in the Lebanese south.”

“We were the first to call … for all political and parliamentary parties to seize the current moment that the region is going through in order to finalize the presidential juncture as soon as possible, under the constitution’s ceiling and through consultations among everyone, without dictations or vetoes on anyone,” Berri said in a speech marking the 46th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his two companions.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has continued his criticism of Hezbollah over the conflict in south Lebanon, stressing that “Lebanon alone cannot liberate Palestine.”

This week (Monday) the forces of the Israeli army’s Formation 91 in the eastern Galilee, near Lebanon, practiced defense scenarios and the transition from routine to emergency, the Israeli army said on Friday.

“The exercise took place in cooperation with police forces, the settlement defense departments, MDA (the Magen David Adom national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service) and other security forces,” the army added.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah on Friday said that Israel “thought that it targeted key weapons with a harsh and painful strike before realizing that it bombed its shadow.”

Fadlallah was referring to Israel’s claim that it waged a preemptive strike to foil Hezbollah’s retaliation to Fouad Shukur’s killing, an allegation that was dismissed by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said that Israel staged its airstrikes half an hour before his group launched over 300 rockets and several drones into Israel.

The five-nation committee for Lebanon is expected to resume its efforts soon regarding the country’s presidential election file, media reports said on Friday.

The quintet comprises representatives of the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt.

A broader regional war in the Middle East where conflict already rages between Hamas and Israel remains a "significant risk," the head of the U.N. peacekeeping force warned Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned against making assumptions about how regional actors will behave.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has presented the security cabinet with a document strongly advocating for a hostage-ceasefire deal and an addition to the war goals: the return of evacuees to their homes in northern Israel.

"Over the past 11 months, we have faced attacks from seven different fronts and responded effectively. In Gaza, we have defeated most of Hamas' brigades and battalions, including their military leader, Mohammad Deif, along with numerous other terrorists," Gallant noted, according to Israeli reports.

The European Union (EU) is continuing its partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Lebanon to ensure that the most vulnerable women and girls have access to affordable, accessible, and lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services, the EU and the UNFPA said in a joint statement Friday.

In partnership with local partners Amel, Salama, Nabaa, and Society for Inclusion and Development in Communities (SIDC), UNFPA is supporting six primary health centers, two dispensaries, and a safe shelter for women and girls across Lebanon to provide integrated gender-based-violence (GBV) prevention and response services while enhancing access to inclusive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for 42,420 people in need.