Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is “willing to call for consultations (over the presidential vote) according to his mechanism should the opposing blocs decide to participate,” al-Jadeed TV quoted sources as saying.

“If they don’t accept (to participate), nothing will change,” the sources added.

Israel has not given a response to a French proposal to de-escalate tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border, French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said.

Lemoine said the Lebanese response was "rather favorable" but Israel had still not not officially responded to the proposal.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has said that he does not expect peace between Israel and Hezbollah, but argued that boosting Lebanon’s economy and armed forces would decrease Iranian influence in country.

In an interview with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Hochstein added that a Lebanon-Israel land border agreement implemented in phases could curb the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah carried out Friday an aerial attack with suicide drones on Iron Dome launchpads in al-Za'oura in the occupied Golan Heights, in response to Israeli strikes on the southern border town of Houla.

The group also fired Friday "heavy-caliber Burkan rockets" at Israeli posts in northern Israel as Israeli artillery shelled the southern border town of al-Wazzani.

Human rights activists have criticized Beirut's decision to stop asking the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war erupted.

"Our initial optimism about the Lebanese government's decision... has given way to deep disappointment," said Amnesty International's deputy regional director, Aya Majzoub.

Lebanon's political class, fuel companies and private electricity providers blocked an offer by gas-rich Qatar to build three renewable energy power plants to ease the crisis-hit nation's decades-old electricity crisis, Lebanon's caretaker economy minister said Thursday.

Lebanon's electricity crisis worsened after the country's historic economic meltdown began in October 2019. Power cuts often last for much of the day, leaving many reliant on expensive private generators that work on diesel and raise pollution levels.

Hezbollah targeted Thursday a group of soldiers in Mount Adir in northern Israel, while the Israeli army raided the southern border town of Hanine.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded regular cross-border fire with Israel since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on southern Israel which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel has said that Hezbollah is not willing to discuss the possibility of electing a “third” presidential candidate other than Suleiman Franjieh and Jihad Azour.

“They are still clinging to Franjieh,” Gemayel said in an interview on Tele Liban.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has warned that Hezbollah, with its incessant attacks on Israel, was pulling Lebanon into a “harsh reality” that would take its toll on the country’s residents.

During a visit to the Israeli army’s Northern Command, Gallant also presented photos and alleged details about senior Hezbollah commanders that Israel has killed during eight months of cross-border clashes since October 8.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said that Hezbollah and Amal are the ones who refused a third-man solution to the presidential crisis in Lebanon.

French President's Special Envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian had arrived Tuesday in Lebanon in a bid to break the presidential deadlock in the crisis-hit country.