The Trump administration has been tying to foster dialogue between Israel and Lebanon for nine months, U.S. news portal Axios has reported, hours after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first talks in decades under the auspices of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

A U.S. official told Axios the U.S. hoped Wednesday’s meeting would help de-escalate tensions between the two sides and help to avoid a resumption of the war in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Army on Thursday refuted Iranian allegations about the affiliation and loyalty of some of its soldiers.

“The Army Command categorically denies these reports and affirms that all its members adhere to a clear and unwavering military doctrine and are completely loyal to the military institution and the country,” it said in a statement.

Iraq's central bank on Thursday said the appearance of Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis on a frozen assets list was a mistake, and ordered the correction of the official announcement, according to a document seen by AFP.

An official gazette issue dated November 17 published a decision about Iraq freezing the assets of Iran-backed armed groups due to acts of "terrorism".

With “heartfelt respect,” U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa on Thursday extended his appreciation to “the Government and people of Lebanon for the gracious welcome offered to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV during his recent visit.”

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut said the inclusion of Lebanese and Israeli civilian officials in the U.S.-led ceasefire monitoring committee, known as the Mechanism, can lead to “durable peace.”

“Senior officials convened for the 14th iteration of the Pentalateral on December 3 in Naqoura to assess ongoing efforts to reach an enduring cessation of hostilities arrangement in Lebanon,” the Embassy said.

Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives met for the first time in decades on Wednesday under the auspices of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

The two sides met at the U.N. peacekeeping force's headquarters in Lebanon's Naqoura near the border with Israel, where the guarantors of the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah regularly convene.

A United Nations Security Council delegation will visit Lebanon on Friday and Saturday after visiting Syria in the first-ever visit to the country.

Slovenian U.N. ambassador Samuel Zbogar told a press conference on Monday that "the visit to Lebanon is the first official visit of the Security Council to the Middle East in six years".

The ceasefire monitoring committee, known as the Mechanism, held a “positive” meeting on Wednesday in Naqoura, MTV said, in talks that for the first time witnessed the participation of Lebanese and Israeli civilian figures.

The TV network added that the meeting witnessed the usual arrangements and that the Lebanese representatives left with the impression that the Lebanese Army would be given a chance to carry out its work and that today’s meeting would be capitalized on.

In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Pope Leo XIV said he had read a letter from Hezbollah but that he prefers not to comment on it, adding that the Church proposes that Hezbollah disarm and seek dialogue instead.

The pope said that peaceful solutions would be more productive and better for the Lebanese people, and vowed to keep on working to convince parties in Lebanon to disarm and choose dialogue instead of violence.

U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus had suggested to Israeli officials that Israel bomb the funeral of slain Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that was held in Beirut on February 23, Israeli media reports said.

Ortagus raised the issue of attacking the funeral under the pretext of “targeting Hezbollah leaders,” Tamir Morag, the political correspondent of Israel’s Channel 14, said.