Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati carried out international contacts over the past few days in an effort to prevent any major war on Lebanon, a ministerial source said.

The Constitutional Council on Wednesday held a session at its headquarters without managing to reach a decision on the appeal filed by the Free Patriotic Movement against the recent extension of the army chief’s term, which means that the extension will not be annulled, the National News Agency said.

Parliament had extended the army chief's mandate on December 15, averting a military power vacuum as the country faces spillover of the Israel-Hamas war without a president or a fully functioning government.

Lebanon’s gasoline, diesel and gas importing companies announced overnight that they would be suspending the delivery of fuel to distributors as of Wednesday morning as well as importation operations, in protest at parliament’s decision to impose an extraordinary tax on the companies that “imported subsidized goods in 2020 and 2021.”

Urging “solutions,” the importers said they would be willing to reopen and supply the market with fuel, even on Sundays, when the issue gets resolved.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that Israel is preparing for a potential war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, warning that the war would be devastating for the crisis-hit country.

"If the Israeli army goes into action in the north, it will destroy Lebanon and Hezbollah," Gallant said. He added that in case of an escalation, the situation in Haifa won't be good, but in Beirut "the situation would be devastating."

The ambassadors of the five-nation group for Lebanon did not propose an initiative or a presidential candidate in their meeting Tuesday with Speaker Nabih Berri, a source informed on the meeting said.

“They presented their role as a support front and told the Lebanese to choose the candidates after consultations and support and assistance” from the five-nation group, the source told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.

Hezbollah targeted Wednesday a group of Israeli soldiers on the hill of al-Tayhat and surveillance equipment in the Hanita post, as Israel shelled the outskirts of Tayr Harfa, Dhaira, Alma al-Shaab, and Majdalzoun.

Israeli warplanes also carried out airstrikes on several locations in southern Lebanon, including Haddatha, Rshef and al-Tiri.

Dozens of Palestinians gathered Tuesday in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency headquarters in Beirut after several countries decided to suspend funding for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency.

A number of key donors -- including the United States, Germany and Japan -- had announced they are suspending funding to the agency over Israel's accusations that some of its staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.

Hezbollah targeted Tuesday a group of soldiers in the Hadb Yarin post as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israeli troops will "very soon go into action" near the country's northern border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah also said it has targeted surveillance equipment near the border village al-Wazzani.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday held a meeting in Ain el-Tineh with the ambassadors of the member states of the five-nation group for Lebanon, which comprises the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt.

The one-hour meeting tackled “the latest developments, especially the presidential juncture,” the National News Agency said.

Hezbollah on Tuesday denied a media report about future border talks with Israel, stressing that such negotiations are the responsibility of the Lebanese state.

“The Nidaa al-Watan newspaper today published a fabricated and insulting report about what it called the file of indirect negotiations over the land border between Lebanon and occupied Palestine,” Hezbollah said in a statement.