The recent de-escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah is not due to the bad weather situations but rather due to a French mediation, European diplomatic sources said.

Israeli warplanes raided Thursday several border towns in south Lebanon, a day after Hezbollah carried out seven attacks on northern Israel and the occupied Shebaa Farms.

Israeli warplanes and drones targeted the towns of al-Odaisseh, Aita al-Shaab, Yaroun, al-Majidieh, while Israeli artillery shelled al-Khiam, Aitaroun and the outskirts of Yaroun.

Displaced residents of Israel's northernmost town have learned to dread hearing from David Azulay -- the man who calls when Hezbollah rockets have crashed into their abandoned homes.

The 57-year-old has been mostly on his own since nearly all of Metula's inhabitants fled following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October.

The Israeli army has announced the formation of a new regional brigade on Israel’s border with Syria and Lebanon.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) activity, is providing over 11,000 Lebanese farmers with seeds, seedlings, and compost to bolster food security in Lebanon, USAID said.

“This ongoing initiative aims to mitigate the impact of rising food costs and reduced purchasing power, particularly impacting rural Lebanese communities. On March 20, 2024, USAID Lebanon Mission Director Julie Southfield visited a distribution site in Jbeil to engage with farmers, addressing their challenges and underscoring the vital role of the agriculture sector in Lebanon’s economy,” the U.S agency said in a statement.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been quoted as saying that “the government is committed to paying compensations to those affected by the Israeli attacks on the south” and that “efforts are underway to secure the needed funds,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, arrived Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates on a sudden visit, following around 10 years of animosity and severed ties between the two sides.

The five-nation group for Lebanon, which comprises the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, has met Lebanese leaders this week in an initiative aimed at ending a presidential crisis and months of political wrangling.

The group's initiative consists of three phases, Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Moussa said. Moussa told LBCI Wednesday that the first and most important step is to communicate with the blocs and to have their commitment. Consultations would follow, and the third step would be the election of a president in Parliament.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix have briefed the Security Council on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006). The Security Council was meeting in closed consultations to discuss the latest report of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of the resolution, the U.N. said in a statement.

Deeply concerned by the escalation in the exchanges of fire across, and increasingly beyond, the Blue Line, the Special Coordinator said these repeated violations of resolution 1701 increase the risks of miscalculation and further deterioration of an already critical situation.

Washington has proposed sponsoring the “comprehensive military structure in south Lebanon for years to come” once a solution is reached for the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel has quoted sources as saying.