President Joseph Aoun has stressed that “diplomacy is the way to restore Lebanon’s full sovereignty,” adding that “no one in Lebanon wants war and everyone understands the need to limit arms to the hands of the state.”

Voting got underway Sunday in north Lebanon’s municipal and mayoral elections, which witnessed a higher number of clashes compared to last Sunday’s polls in the Mount Lebanon governorate.

The Israeli army said Sunday that the body of a soldier missing for 43 years had been found in the "heart of Syria" and repatriated in a special operation with the Mossad intelligence agency.

"In a special operation led by the IDF (military) and Mossad, the body of Sgt. First Class Tzvika Feldman was found in the heart of Syria and brought back to Israel," the army said in a statement.

A British-Nigerian art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show has pleaded guilty to failing to report that he sold pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, was charged with failing to disclose art sales between October 2020 and December 2021. He pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates' Court to eight offences under a section of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Lebanon and Syria are cracking down on Palestinian factions that for decades have had an armed presence in both countries and which on some occasions were used to plan and launch attacks against Israel.

The crackdown comes as Syria's new rulers under Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are pursuing officials of the former government under Bashar Assad, including those in the ousted president's web of security agencies. Syria's most prominent Palestinian factions were key allies of the Assad dynasty in both war and peace time and closely cooperated on security matters.

There is a “serious disappointment” in Baabda over the failure of diplomatic contacts to secure serious guarantees from the U.S. regarding Israel’s attacks against Lebanon following the violent airstrikes in the Nabatieh region, prominent political sources said.

President Joseph Aoun will visit Kuwait Sunday and will meet there with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, PSP's al-Anbaa news portal reported.

Al-Anbaa said Friday that Aoun will discuss with the Kuwaiti Emir the bilateral relations between the two countries and will urge Kuwait to offer military aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces and to fund more projects financed by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development across Lebanon.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh said that the so-called Axis of Resistance is not in its best situation today, but added that “it is premature to say that it has ended, even if it has been dealt a very strong blow.”

The relation between Hezbollah and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is not at its best, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper said Friday.

The daily reported that despite the disagreements, ties are not severed and communication and coordination between the two sides are ongoing.

U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus told some Lebanese officials who contacted her Thursday over the latest Israeli airstrikes that she would visit Lebanon soon to work on consolidating the ceasefire, Lebanese officials told al-Joumhouria newspaper.