U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein will carry a "clear message" to Lebanon's authorities during his upcoming visit to the country and will ask them to "reject any role for Iran in reconstruction, neither through Iranian firms nor through aid," a media report said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday denied media reports claiming that Lebanon has been indirectly informed that Israel will not withdraw from south Lebanon after the end of the 60-day period stipulated in the ceasefire agreement.

Druze leader Walid Jumblat wrote Friday on the X platform that "the Lebanese Foreign Ministry has finally woken up from its deep sleep and noticed that a change has happened in Syria."

The Israeli military said it conducted air strikes on Friday targeting "infrastructure" on the Syrian-Lebanese border near the village of Janta, which it said was used to smuggle weapons to the armed group Hezbollah.

"Earlier today, the IAF (Israeli air force) struck infrastructure that was used to smuggle weapons via Syria to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon at the Janta crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border," the military said in a statement.

The Israeli army withdrew Thursday from the southern areas of Qantara, Adsheet al-Qusayr and Wadi al-Hujeir after it made a several-hour incursion that forced residents to flee and involved the abduction and wounding of a Lebanese UNIFIL employee.

Sources in the Israeli army have told the Haaretz newspaper that the Israeli military “will have to stay in Lebanon until the Lebanese army can fulfill its commitments under the terms of the cease-fire deal, which include attaining full control of southern Lebanon.”

Footage of a priest with a machinegun slung over his shoulder inside a church in Lebanon’s Mazraat Yachouh has gone viral on social media and stirred controversy in the country.

Syrian interim foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani has received a phone call from Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Syria's official news agency SANA said.

Army Commander General Joseph Aoun has traveled to Saudi Arabia at an invitation from his Saudi counterpart Air Chief Marshal Fayyadh al-Ruwaili, the Lebanese Army said on Thursday.

Israeli forces on Thursday made an incursion into the southern areas of al-Qantara, Adsheet al-Qusayr and Wadi al-Hujeir in violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese Army said.

“The Israeli enemy is pressing on with its violation of the ceasefire agreement, attacks on Lebanon’s sovereignty and citizens, and destruction of southern villages and towns,” the army said.