Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said that Lebanon was working to find a solution with Syria, after two security officials said Damascus had imposed new restrictions on the entry of Lebanese citizens.

"Work is underway to resolve the issue of Lebanese citizens being prevented from entering Syria," Mawlawi told AFP.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has held up for over a month, even as its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon deadline.

The deal struck on Nov. 27 to halt the war required Hezbollah to immediately lay down its arms in southern Lebanon and gave Israel 60 days to withdraw its forces there and hand over control to the Lebanese Army and U.N. peacekeepers.

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi stressed Friday that “what the ministry and the Airport Security Apparatus are doing is aimed at protecting Lebanon and the Lebanese,” hours after controversy at the airport over the entry of two Iranian suitcases.

Lebanese officials have received reassurances from U.S. and French officials that the international ceasefire monitoring committee will press Israel to stop its ceasefire violations and that the Israeli army will not stay in Lebanon after the 60-day period and might even withdraw before that, informed sources said.

Political parties in Lebanon are working to agree on two or three presidential candidates ahead of a presidential vote session scheduled for next week, Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Alaa Moussa told Al-Jadeed on Friday.

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with neither of the two main blocs -- Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the majority required to elect one, and unable to reach a consensus.

An “important” meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee will be held on Monday in Naqoura, al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted sources as saying on Friday.

Armed clashes erupted on Syria's border between the Lebanese Army and a group of gunmen following an attempt to reopen an illegal border crossing.

"Clashes have stopped in the Maaraboun area between the Lebanese Army and Syrian gunmen after several armed men were wounded. The gunmen retreated as the illegal border crossing remained closed," al-Jadeed TV reported on Friday afternoon.

The co-chair of the ceasefire monitoring committee, U.S. general Jasper Jeffers, toured the southern town of Khiam on Friday, accompanied by the commander of the Lebanese Army’s 7th Brigade, Brig. Gen. Tony Fares.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry announced Friday that “two small diplomatic suitcases carried by an Iranian diplomat aboard a Mahan Air flight” were allowed to enter through Beirut airport after the Iranian embassy “clarified that they contained papers, documents and cash for paying operational expenses exclusively related to the embassy’s operations.”

A U.S. Army veteran who allegedly went to Lebanon and Syria to try to join Hezbollah has been indicted for attempting to support a "terrorist" organization, the U.S. Justice Department said.