Lebanon's health ministry said two people were killed in separate Israeli attacks on south Lebanon on Thursday, in the latest flare-up despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes and shelling on multiple areas in the south.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday defended pro-LF Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji in the face of verbal attacks from Hezbollah officials against the backdrop of his latest stances on Hezbollah and its arms.

An Israeli drone strike killed a municipal worker in southern Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said.

The man was on his way to work on a well supplying water to homes when he was killed in the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, the NNA said. Lebanon’s Health Ministry also reported one person killed in the strike.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem seems "as if he's on another planet" to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea who criticized Qassem's "unrealistic" statements, in an interview with LBCI on Wednesday night.

Geagea said foreign countries will not help Lebanon or deal with the Lebanese state as long as Hezbollah is keeping its "illegal" arms. "There will be no reconstruction, no financial rescue — all of that is now suspended, frozen, and paralyzed, until Hezbollah disarms. No one will want to deal with the state in such a situation."

In honor of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, UNIFIL hosted a ceremony at its Naqoura headquarters attended by members of the Lebanese Army, security services, local political and religious authorities, ambassadors, and U.N. officials.

“The situation along the Blue Line remains tense and unpredictable, with repeated violations and a high risk of miscalculation," Head of Mission and Force Commander Lieutenant-General Aroldo Lázaro warned. "Through our liaison and coordination mechanisms, we offer a channel for dialogue and de-escalation helping to build the foundation for a possible solution," he said.

A number of Hezbollah MPs have lashed out at Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, who is close to the Lebanese Forces, over his latest remarks on Hezbollah and its weapons.

A Shilka-type shell fired from Syria landed in the Akkar town of al-Dawseh, wounding a Lebanese man, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Thursday, without elaborating on who might have fired it.

An Iraqi official speaking on condition of anonymity has told The Associated Press that the U.S. and Israel are not opposed to the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel as part of a deal for the release of Russian-Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who is held in Iraq by the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has told the Wall Street Journal that the Lebanese government has achieved 80% of its objectives in taking control of country’s south.

The November 2024 ceasefire ended more than a year of fighting, including some two months of open war, between Israel and Hezbollah.

An Israeli army official has said that the Lebanese Army has been “way more effective than expected” in removing Hezbollah’s arms, adding that the Israeli army is “pleased by this trend.”