France on Thursday urged Lebanon to undertake serious reform after the devastating Beirut port blast, warning the country risked "disappearing" as a state if it failed.

The Mouvement des entreprises de France (Movement of the Enterprises of France, MEDEF) announced that French companies are ready to work alongside the Lebanese people in a project to rebuild Beirut’s port after the devastating monster explosion on August 4, LBCI TV station reported on Thursday.

The Middle East's 21 billionaires have amassed $63 million every day since March, a combined bounty double the amount needed to repair the damage caused by the Beirut port blast, Oxfam said Thursday.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday opted not to comment extensively on Tuesday’s flare-up on the Lebanese-Israeli border while describing the events as “important and sensitive.”

“Yesterday’s events, the Israeli upheaval, the firing of phosphorus bombs and some attacks are something important and sensitive to us but I deliberately will not comment now,” said Nasrallah in brief remarks about the incidents during a Ashoura religious sermon.

The Lebanese Army on Wednesday said 13 missiles, 117 flares and 100 shells were fired by Israel overnight at Lebanese border areas.

“After midnight, helicopters belonging to the Israeli enemy targeted posts belonging to the Green Without Borders environmental NGO with three missiles at the outskirts of the town of Ramya and eight missiles at the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab, in addition to two missiles that were fired from the Tal al-Raheb post at the outskirts of the aforementioned town,” the army said in a statement.

A Hizbullah spokesman on Wednesday declined to comment on the overnight flare-up on the Lebanese-Israeli border but a member of the group said no Hizbullah positions were hit by Israel as claimed by its army.

The Hizbullah member spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

Judicial Investigator Judge Fadi Sawwan on Wednesday interrogated four more people over the catastrophic August 4 blast at Beirut’s port.

The National News Agency identified those questioned as head of operations at the port Samer Raad, head of the security and safety dept. Mohammed Ziad al-Aouf, Customs First Sergeant Elias Chahine and Customs First Sergeant Khaled al-Khatib.

French President Emmanuel Macron, the first world leader to visit Lebanon after the devastating Beirut port blast, will return to Beirut next week to press for reform and reconstruction.

Macron will depart Monday for a full day of meetings Tuesday in a bid to boost the reconstruction effort but also looking at political issues as Lebanon searches for a new government, the French presidency said.

French and Lebanese soldiers cleared 8,000 tons of steel and concrete equivalent to the weight of the Eiffel Tower from Beirut port which was devastated by a monster blast, an officer said Wednesday.

Efforts have focused recently on clearing the parts of the port worst affected by the massive August 4 explosion that ripped across swathes of Beirut and killed more than 180 people.

The Higher Defense Council on Wednesday extended the general mobilization measures until the end of the year, after a notable increase in coronavirus cases and deaths.