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US has still not agreed to Aoun and Haykal's visit, report says

The U.S. has still not agreed to a visit by Lebanon's President and Army chief, al-Akhbar newspaper said Tuesday.

The pro-Hezbollah daily said that the U.S. would rather exert more pressure on Lebanon and would not welcome President Joseph Aoun and Army chief Joseph Haykal before Lebanon meets the American conditions.

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Report: Iran agrees to handover of Hezbollah's weapons

Tehran has approved the handover of Hezbollah’s medium- and heavy-caliber weapons to the Lebanese Army and the transfer of the precision-guided missiles to Iraq, informed sources said.

“The discussion has reached the point of the side that will manage these missiles in Iraq and whether it will be the Iraqi army or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF),” the sources told the Progressive Socialist Party’s al-Anbaa news portal in remarks published Tuesday.

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Israeli forces enter southern towns of Khiam, Odaisseh, and Aita al-Shaab

Israeli forces entered overnight into Tuesday the southern border towns of al-Khiam, Odaisseh, and Aita al-Shaab.

Local media reports said the soldiers detonated several buildings in Wadi al-Asafir in al-Khiam and a house in Odaisseh.

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Clashes and counter-demos in Lebanon as Sharaa supporters celebrate Assad’s fall

Supporters of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa staged motorbike and car rallies across Lebanon overnight to mark the first anniversary of the ouster of Bashar al-Assad at the hands of an Islamist-led uprising.

The rallies sparked tensions and led to clashes in some areas, prompting an intervention by the Lebanese Army.

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Aoun seeks to meet Saudi and Emirati leaders in bid to avert war, report says

President Joseph Aoun headed Tuesday to Oman, as he reportedly intensifies diplomacy with Arab and international countries to prevent a possible escalation.

Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper said Oman represents a point of intersection between the United States, Iran, and the Gulf States, making it a good place for negotiations concerning the Lebanese file.

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Le Drian meets Berri, Haykal and Jumblat

French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met Tuesday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Army chief Rodolphe Haykal and former PSP leader Walid Jumblat, as Lebanon moves towards direct negotiations with Israel.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Hervé Magro, who attended the talks, said the meeting with Berri was "very good".

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Israel strikes target Iqlim al-Tuffah in south Lebanon

Israel's military said it carried out strikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday, targeting a training compound and other sites operated by Hezbollah.

"A short while ago, the IDF (Israeli military) struck infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in several areas in southern Lebanon," it said in a statement.

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Will Aoun visit the White House soon?

Contacts are underway between Baabda and Washington to arrange an official visit by President Joseph Aoun to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump at the beginning of the new year, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Monday.

Aoun is scheduled to visit the Sultanate of Oman on Tuesday at the invitation of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, accompanied by a number of ministers.

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Report: Netanyahu tells US he'll avoid strikes similar to Thursday's

U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus welcomed Lebanon’s move to name a civilian representative in the Mechanism ceasefire committee, but President Joseph Aoun lamented to her the violent Israeli strikes that targeted residential buildings in south Lebanon the next day, a media report said.

Aoun said what happened “represented a negative message from (Israeli PM Benjamin) Netanyahu, especially that the inspection of the targeted sites proved that they were all civilian targets containing no Hezbollah military assets as Israel had claimed,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

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Report: US presses Israel to give Mechanism a chance

The U.S. administration has pressed Israel to give a chance for developing the work of the U.S.-led ceasefire Mechanism after the appointment of Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives in it, U.S. and French diplomats said.

Washington has also asked Israel to respect the year-end deadline for the removal of Hezbollah’s weapons in the South Litani region, while acknowledging that the Israeli operations and strikes will not stop during this period, the diplomats told An-Nahar newspaper.

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