Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Wednesday with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Grand Serail, as increasing cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and the Israeli resumed in the south.

Mikati told Baerbock that Lebanon respects all international resolutions in order to achieve permanent stability in the south, while Baerbock stressed the need to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

Asher Kaufman, University of Notre Dame

The killing of a Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon on Jan. 8, 2024, has raised concern that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could escalate into a regional war.

Israeli warplanes struck Wednesday the outskirts of al-Labbouneh, al-Naqoura and Kfarshouba.

Hezbollah later announced the killing of one of its members, Nabegh al-Qadiri from Kfarshouba, saying he died "on the road to Jerusalem" -- the phrase used for fighters killed by Israel.

Hezbollah has denied that a man in charge of Hezbollah’s drones in the south was killed in an Israeli airstrike Tuesday.

After Israel claimed it killed Ali Hussein Barji, who it said was in charge of Hezbollah’s drones in the south, Hezbollah denied the claim and an official said Barji was only a fighter.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday accused the Hezbollah-led “Axis of Defiance” in Lebanon of linking the Lebanese presidency and the new government to “ongoing negotiations” with Western forces over the military situation in south Lebanon.

“This matter is totally rejected, seeing as the presidency will not be a consolation prize for the Axis of Resistance and will not be part of any deal whatsoever,” Geagea said.

Hezbollah field commander Wissam Tawil, a top Hezbollah commander, was buried in his south Lebanon village of Kherbet Selem on Tuesday.

He was the highest-ranking Hezbollah member to be killed since October 7.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday noted that “the daily Israeli escalation is targeting the depth of residential areas, civilians and even ambulances and journalists.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will press Israel during his visit on Tuesday to officially declare the start of the so-called low-intensity third phase of its war on Gaza, media reports said.

Hezbollah number two Naim Qassem in a speech Tuesday warned that Israel's wave of targeted killings "cannot lead to a phase of retreat but rather to a push forward for the resistance".

He described Hezbollah field commander Wissam Tawil - who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his car on Monday - as a member of Hezbollah's elite al-Radwan Brigade who had fought on several fronts.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein will meet with Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab in a European capital prior to his upcoming visit to Lebanon, senior political sources said.

“Phone communication between them is ongoing and they had recently met in Dubai,” the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.