Hezbollah’s top lawmaker Mohammed Raad has said that his party’s latest military drill was aimed at telling Israel that Lebanon’s presidential crisis will not divert Hezbollah’s attention from confronting Israel’s “aggression against our sovereignty.”

“Some said that this was addressed to the Lebanese interior, knowing that the Lebanese interior does not need resistance, but rather dialogue, understanding and the rhetoric of tolerance among the sons of the same country,” Raad added.

A New Jersey software developer who prosecutors say once photographed landmarks in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., for possible terrorist attacks has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a federal judge who said it seemed he no longer was a danger.

In fact, Judge Paul G. Gardephe noted, Alexei Saab, 46, has become a model prisoner since his 2019 arrest, helping others incarcerated at New York City's federal jails to get high school equivalency certificates, learn English and find relief from psychological problems.

Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi on Tuesday announced that Hezbollah is “very deterred from an all-out war against Israel.”

“It thinks it understands how we think. This thought brings it to dare and challenge us where it is sure it will not lead to war. I see this as a good way to create surprises if necessary,” Halevi said.

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel called Tuesday the Free Patriotic Movement to go back to what it was before 2005.

"On March 14, 2005, you resisted the Syrian occupation and fought for the implementation of international resolutions," Gemayel said to the FPM.

Presidential negotiations between the opposition and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil are “temporarily frozen,” media reports said.

“The opposition forces are awaiting Bassil’s response, after they proposed a number of presidential candidates,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Tuesday the Shiite Duo and the Free Patriotic Movement of "irresponsibility" in dealing with public affairs.

Geagea blamed the FPM and the Axis of Defiance for the crisis, the banking and monetary collapse, and for the resulting dire living conditions.

Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva has noted that Israel’s confrontation with Iran's proxies has become a “direct” confrontation with the Islamic republic itself.

He further stated that the probability of an escalation that could degenerate into a full-scale war is not low. "Exercising measured and calculated force, as part of Israel's national interest, is the way to deal with this while strengthening alliances in the region," he said.

The United States has voiced support for caretaker PM Najib Mikati’s criticism of the military drill that Hezbollah has staged in south Lebanon.

“Hezbollah is more concerned with its own interests and those of its patron Iran than what is best for the Lebanese people. And I just want to note something that the prime minister of Lebanon said, which is the event constituted a diminution of Lebanon’s authority and sovereignty, and add that moreover, it threatens Lebanon’s security and stability,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press briefing.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh will file Tuesday an appeal against an Interpol red notice issued against him in France over corruption charges.

Public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat on Monday summoned Salameh for questioning following the international arrest warrant.

The current efforts that are being exerted by Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab might lead to calling for dialogue in parliament within a week or 10 days, MTV reported.

“Representatives of all blocs would take part in the consultations to discuss a basket and a roadmap,” the TV network said.