Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Sunday described Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as an “Iranian puppet,” hours after the Hizbullah leader reiterated that his group will retaliate against Israel over a deadly airstrike in Syria and a drone explosion over Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“Nasrallah is an Iranian puppet who has taken charge of the file of the Iranian attack that had been planned from Syria, and most probably he had not been aware of it,” Katz tweeted in Arabic.

French President Emmanuel Macron has talked with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and urged Tehran to show restraint amid rising tensions in the region.

Macron's office said that the French leader asked Iran to "take necessary measures" to encourage negotiations in Yemen's war and urged Iran to show "the greatest restraint in Lebanon so that nothing compromises stability in this moment of great tension."

Braving death threats, Abdallah Haddad fought for years to shut down quarries near his village in Lebanon. 

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday his movement's response to a recent Israeli drone attack on the group's southern Beirut subrubs stronghold had been "decided."

Head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad said Saturday that Hizbullah “seeks no war with Israel,” but aims to make it respect the rules of engagement drawn up in 2006 after the end of the conflict between the two, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

Israel hurled at dawn on Saturday more than 30 flare bombs near the Lebanese border mainly over the towns of Ghajar, Shebaa and Kfar Shuba heights, the National News Agency reported.

The Israeli attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut highlighted a “split” between the government and Hizbullah over ways to respond to the breach, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Saturday.

The United States on Friday blacklisted the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya following repeated warnings over its valuable oil cargo.

Hizbullah's al-Manar television said Friday that two drones used in the suspected Israeli attack in Beirut's southern suburbs were flown from Israeli gunboats off the Lebanese coast.

Al-Manar's report came five days after an alleged Israeli drone crashed in a Hizbullah stronghold while another exploded and crashed nearby.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday told French President Emmanuel Macron that "those who provide shelter for aggression and arming" will not be spared, in an apparent reference to Lebanon and Israel’s claims that Iran and Hizbullah are building missile production facilities on Lebanese soil.

In a phone call initiated by the French leader, Netanyahu said that Iran was stepping up its aggression in the region, the Israeli PM’s office said.