"Without dialogue, there will be no president," pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper quoted Speaker Nabih Berri as saying.

The daily reported Friday that Berri thinks that "it's much easier today" as all parties, except one - the Lebanese Forces -, have agreed to participate in his dialogue initiative, including the Free Patriotic Movement.

Israeli artillery shelled Friday the southern border town of Houla and the outskirts of Kfarshouba and Kfarhamam, a day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Lebanon.

Hezbollah for its part attacked Friday, for the first time since war broke out, Abirim, Neve Ziv and Manot in north Israel in response to Israeli attacks on civilians in south Lebanon.

An Israeli airstrike killed a commander and other militants from Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force late Thursday in southern Lebanon, according to the group and Israel's military.

Hezbollah confirmed the death of one of its commanders, Ali Jaafar Maatouq, also known as Habib Maatouq. Israel said in a statement it had killed Maatouq and another Radwan Force commander, as well as other members of Hezbollah's secretive special forces, which operate along the border.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Thursday the so-called Axis of Defiance and the Free Patriotic Movement of obstructing change in Lebanon.

The FPM prioritizes its "narrow interests", Geagea charged, adding that the FPM members seek political and personal gains "at the expense of Lebanon's interest."

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has repeatedly said that General Security acting chief Brig. Gen. Elias Bayssari has “no chance” to be elected president, several prominent politicians have said, according to al-Akhbar newspaper.

“Hochstein has recently sent a message to MP Jebran Bassil through a U.S.-based Lebanese figure, asking him to think of a candidate other than Bayssari,” the daily added.

Three people were arrested in Spain and one more in Germany on suspicion of belonging to a network that supplied Lebanon's Hezbollah with parts to build kamikaze drones that would have been used in attacks in northern Israel, Spanish authorities said Thursday.

The investigation began in Spain when the Guardia Civil detected “suspicious operations” by Spanish companies run by Lebanese nationals involving large quantities of materials and components to manufacture drones capable of carrying explosive charges of several kilograms, the statement said.

Israeli drones targeted Thursday a region between Yater and Zebqine while artillery shelled the outskirts of Yater.

Drones had targeted earlier on Thursday two cars in east and south Lebanon, killing a Jamaa Islamiya commander in the village of Ghazzeh in Bekaa, and a Hezbollah fighter in Jbal el-Botm in the Tyre district, near Zebqine.

Shiite Muslims Wednesday in Lebanon and Iraq commemorated Ashoura, marking the 7th-century death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, that gave birth to their faith, while paying tribute to Palestinians as the Israel-Hamas war entered its 10th month and tensions heightened between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.

The rift between Islam's two main sects deepened after Sunnis killed Imam Hussein in battle in the Iraqi city of Karbala, south of Baghdad. It continues to this day to play a key role in shaping the identity of Shiites, who represent over 10% of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims.

Russia’s top diplomat has said that Hezbollah, its main backer Iran, and Lebanon’s government do not want “a full-blown war – and there’s a suspicion that some circles in Israel are trying to achieve just that.”

Sergey Lavrov told a U.N. news conference Wednesday that Russia is doing “everything possible to calm tensions.” He expressed hope that Western nations make every effort to ensure Israel won’t act on what he says U.S. and European analysts are calling Israel’s “provocative mindsets.”

Israeli drones targeted Thursday two cars in east and south Lebanon, killing a Jamaa Islamiya commander in the village of Ghazzeh in Bekaa.

The other drone strike targeted a car in Jbal el-Botm in the Tyre district, near Zebqine.