A Lebanese sailor is thanking his lucky stars for being rescued unharmed from the dark waters of the east Mediterranean early Sunday, nearly five hours after falling 18 meters (60 feet) off a commercial ship.

Cypriot authorities say 24-year-old Lebanese national needed no medical attention after the Panamanian-flagged vehicles carrier NIVIN plucked him from the sea.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati told British Foreign Minister David Lammy in a call there was a "need to pressure the Israeli enemy to stop its direct targeting of southern towns and villages," after an Israeli airstrike on the Nabatieh region killed 10 Syrian civilians and wounded many others.

"The current cycle of violence may lead to an escalation with dire consequences," Mikati told Lammy, according to a statement shared by his office.

The state-run Zahrani Oil Installations overnight started pumping five million liters of fuel oil on loan to the Zahrani power plant through the supply line that connects them, a day after Lebanon’s state utility Electricité du Liban announced that its power plants had exhausted their supply of fuel oil and would stop producing electricity.

In a statement, the Installations director general said the process started after “completing all the administrative, technical and legal files,” adding that EDL’s board of directors would meet Sunday and issue a statement announcing when the power plant would become functional.

U.S. President Joe Biden is aiming to get a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal by the end of next week while also trying to deter Iran and Hezbollah from conducting an attack on Israel that could undermine this effort, U.S. officials have told U.S. news portal Axios.

Hezbollah has gradually revealed its military capabilities in 10 months of cross-border clashes with Israel, analysts say, including footage of underground missile facilities released Friday amid fears of all-out war.

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli air strike overnight in southern Lebanon killed 10 Syrians, as the Israeli military reported hitting "weapons stores" of Hezbollah.

Egypt’s foreign minister said Friday that an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip is needed to stop an escalation that could push the region into a wider war.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday accused the caretaker government of committing “high treason” due to “what’s happening in the south.

The smell of fuel wafts from storage tanks to Dovi Sonny's apartment -- a long-time irritant, and now a major worry after Hezbollah revealed that the facility in northern Israel was in its sights.

Sonny, 66, has no idea what would happen should a rocket hit one of the towering circular containers about 100 meters (yards) from his building in Haifa.

Hezbollah has issued a statement commemorating the end of the 2006 war with Israel, saying it would continue "to defend Lebanon" despite "ongoing Israeli threats and assassinations."

Hezbollah's deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem meanwhile said that U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein's visit Wednesday to Lebanon was "for show," although Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, expressed relief over the visit.