Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki, who had said during a visit to Beirut that the Arab League no longer views Hezbollah as a terrorist group, said Monday that the policy shift took place in May 2023.

During a Jeddah summit in May last year, a resolution describing Hezbollah as a terrorist group was amended, Zaki told local al-Jadeed TV station.

The Maronite church’s official spokesman, Walid Ghayyad, has noted that “communication between Bkerki and Hezbollah is continuous,” following the latest uproar over recent remarks by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

“Had the patriarch considered Hezbollah terrorist, he would have ceased communication with it because he does not talk to terrorists,” Ghayyad told al-Jadeed television.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has said that “we are all threatened today because of Israel.”

“We are all asking the same question: whether there will be a war or not,” Bassil added during a tour of the Akkar district, stressing that the FPM is “against any policy that brings war.”

Israeli warplanes raided overnight into Monday the southern border towns of Rab Tlatine, Kfarkila, and Blida and struck al-Bayyada, deeper in the Tyre district.

The Israeli army later shelled Kfarkila with white phosphorus bombs, causing fires.

Iran had warned that "all resistance fronts", a grouping of Iran and its regional allies, would confront Israel if it attacks Lebanon.

The comment from Iran's mission to New York comes with fears of a wider regional war involving Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza began.

U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Iran and Israel traded threats Saturday of what Iran said would be an "obliterating" war over Hezbollah.

Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire in Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied groups. With the stalled talks in mind, American and European diplomats and other officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah — which is far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident — about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that Israel is “not looking for war” with Hezbollah and that a diplomatic solution is preferable, as the far-right Otzma Yehudit party indicated it would bolt the government if Israel shied away from launching a full-scale assault on the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

Nevertheless, Gallant reiterated that Israel is making preparations and planning for a wider conflict, and said the ball is in Hezbollah’s court.

U.S. officials have suggested, without providing details, that there may be options for ending the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border without a Gaza cease-fire, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Draft agreements have called for Hezbollah to move heavy weapons away from the Israeli border, while offering reconstruction funds for Lebanon, among other terms, according to Lebanese and European officials and published reports.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday paid an inspection visit to war-hit south Lebanon.

Mikati started his tour at an army barracks in Tyre before inspecting official school exam centers and holding a meeting with health officials.

The European Union has imposed asset freezes and visa bans on several firms and individuals accused of helping to finance Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas, Brussels said.

The sanctions were the second round to be imposed by the EU on the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups after their attack on Israel on October 7.