Hezbollah is keen on cooperation to achieve the interest of all Lebanese, MP Mohammad Raad said Wednesday after he met with President Joseph Aoun in Baabda.

He added that meetings and talks will continue between Hezbollah and the president to achieve Lebanon's interests. "We are keen on cooperation to achieve the goals of all Lebanese people -- ending the occupation, releasing prisoners, strengthening stability, and the return of our people to their homes and villages," Raad said.

A walled compound in Lebanon housing hundreds of people who fled their homes in Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad over a year ago has drawn allegations that the residents are Assad loyalists, which they deny.

The attention on the compound in Hermel town highlights the sensitivities around Syria's transformation after a long civil war, suspicions that can linger about identity and minorities' fear of retaliation.

Beirut accused Israel of spraying the herbicide glyphosate on the Lebanese side of their shared border, with President Joseph Aoun decrying a "crime against the environment".

After collecting samples following the recent spraying, the agriculture and environment ministries said some of them showed concentrations of glyphosate "20 to 30 times higher than the average" in the area.

U.S. Congressmen Darrell Issa and Darin LaHood, who are of Lebanese origin, have submitted a draft bill seeking the imposition of sanctions on any “foreign person or entity that hinders, obstructs or delays Lebanon's electoral process, including efforts to restrict or prevent Lebanese citizens abroad from voting in parliamentary elections.”

The draft bill was dubbed the “Lebanon Election Integrity and Diaspora Voting Protection Act of 2026''.

"Lebanon is moving forward with firm steps, despite all difficulties," stated Army Chief Rodolphe Haykal during a reception at the Lebanese Embassy in Washington.

Speaking on Tuesday, Haykal expressed his unwavering faith in both the military and the crisis and war-hit country.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot is scheduled to arrive in Beirut on Thursday evening to meet with President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, and Army chief Rodolphe Haykal.

Al-Liwaa newspaper said the talks will discuss the preparations for an international conference to support the Lebanese Army, set to be held in Paris on March 5, with approximately 50 countries expected to attend.

Just a few days separate us from Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal's presentation to Cabinet of his plan to restrict weapons north of the Litani River.

Upon his return from the United States, where he has been holding a series of meetings since the beginning of the week, Cabinet will convene at the Baabda Palace and Haykal will attend to explain the details of the second phase of the plan, complete with maps, figures and dates, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported.

The Israeli army said it has killed over the past year 60 Hezbollah members and dismantled structures and weapons depots.

In a post on the X platform, the Israeli army said its troops assisted in directing ground and aerial fire in hundreds of focused operations in 2025.

President Joseph Aoun strongly condemned Wednesday the Israeli airplanes' dropping of toxic chemical substances over lands and border villages in south Lebanon.

UNIFIL had earlier condemned the Israeli army's "deliberate and planned actions" that limited peacekeepers’ ability to undertake their mandated activities and put their health and that of civilians at risk.

UNIFIL peacekeepers said two Israeli drones hovered aggressively above them when they were on a routine patrol near Kafer Kela on Tuesday morning.

One of the drones was carrying an unidentified object and had entered a range that constituted an immediate threat to the safety and security of peacekeepers.