Lebanon's new president said on Saturday Israel must withdraw from the country's south by the January 26 deadline set to fully implement the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreed last year.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has accused Israel of hundreds of violations of a ceasefire, to be fully implemented by next week, and warned against testing "our patience."

His remarks came during a visit to Lebanon by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for Israel to end military operations and "occupation" in the south, almost two months into the ceasefire between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has said that the Palestinian people's sacrifices aborted Israel’s attempts to erase “the Palestinian cause.”

In comments aired on the group's Al-Manar TV, he also said Lebanon's government has to firmly prevent Israeli violations of the U.S.-brokered 60-day truce aiming to end the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

António Guterres said the international community will back Lebanon “for what we believe will be a speedy recovery of this country, making it again the center of the Middle East.”

The U.N. Secretary-General made his comments on Saturday following a meeting in Beirut with Lebanon’s newly elected president Joseph Aoun. A new prime minister was also named to form a government following Aoun's election last week.

Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam met with President Joseph Aoun on Friday evening to brief him on the outcome of his non-binding consultations with lawmakers and his talks with Speaker Nabih Berri.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday announced that "the course is headed toward a solution" as to the issue of the Shiite Duo's participation in the new government.

French President Emmanuel Macron held a bilateral meeting Friday at the Baabda Palace with Speaker Nabih Berri, the National News Agency said.

Contacts intensified over the past hours, through mediators between Baabda and Ain el-Tineh, in order to contain the dismay of Hezbollah and Speaker Nabih Berri, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday.

Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil admitted overnight that Hezbollah and the Amal Movement did not discuss with President Joseph Aoun -- prior to his election -- the issue of who will be the country’s new premier.

Syria’s new security authorities on Friday seized a weapons shipment that was intended to be smuggled into Lebanon through illegal border crossings, Syria’s new authorities said.