U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is supposed to visit Lebanon in the coming period, carrying “some answers,” after he recently visited Paris and discussed the files of south Lebanon and a possible political settlement.
“In Paris, the French presented a proposal to Hochstein calling for the formation a four-party committee comprising the U.S., France, Israel and Lebanon, which would engage in negotiations aimed at ending the current disputes,” Kuwait’s al-Jarida newspaper reported.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has said that he “will likely head back soon” to Lebanon and Israel as part of the efforts to prevent a bigger conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
“But I think we, this is something we do every day, not just when we're in the region. We do this also when we're here,” Hochstein added, in an interview on CBS News.

Two Israeli soldiers were wounded Monday in a Hezbollah attack on a post in northern Israel.
Hezbollah said it has targeted the Branit barracks with Burkan missiles, inflicting casualties. Less than an hour after the attack, the Israeli army announced that two soldiers were injured.

Israeli warplane and drone strikes as well as artillery shelling on Sunday targeted several Lebanese southern towns near the frontier.

Hezbollah on Saturday announced a fresh wave of attacks on Israeli military posts across the border as Israeli attacks targeted some southern areas.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced Friday that the Lebanese state has managed to “halt” the financial collapse and begin “serious recovery.”
“We’ve managed to halt the collapse and begin serious recovery. We have at Account 36 at the central bank more than LBP 100,000 billion and $1 billion, including $150 million in fresh dollars and 850 million lollars (Lebanese dollars),” Mikati said in his defense of the 2024 state budget in parliament.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has met with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Jerusalem and asked for Rome’s assistance in finding a diplomatic solution to Hezbollah’s presence on Israel’s northern border.

The ambassadors of the five-nation group for Lebanon, who met Thursday at the Saudi envoy’s residence, have devised a roadmap for their meetings with Lebanese officials and leaders in a bid to re-activate the presidential election file, media reports said.

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat walked back Friday a statement he had previously made, in which he described a March 14 slogan as ridiculous.
In an interview with al-Akhbar, Jumblat said "time has changed since the days when we raised the ridiculous 'Lebanon First' (Loubnan Awwalan) slogan at the time of the so-called March 14 Alliance."

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has spoken with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to resolve tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border and to avoid regional escalation.
"Secretary Austin reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the pursuit of diplomacy to resolve tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border and the shared goal of avoiding regional escalation," the U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday in a statement.
