A series of violent Israeli airstrikes targeted south Lebanon on Thursday afternoon and evening, killing one person and wounding seven others, with media reports describing them as among the fiercest since the November ceasefire.

Israeli airstrikes targeted Thursday the outskirts of the Sidon district town of Bnaafoul and the Ali al-Taher hill near Nabatieh in south Lebanon and and the Bekaa town of Shmestar in the east.

Al-Manar said the Israeli strike on Shmestar hit a building that had been previously targeted.

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Thursday that Israel has not achieved its goals in Lebanon, accusing the U.S. of obstructing the reconstruction of war-hit regions.

Fadlallah said that even though the balance of power has shifted in the region and in Lebanon, the resistance is still protecting the South despite Israeli plans of occupying it and transforming it to a buffer zone.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has reassured that the parliamentary elections will take place on time but only in Lebanon, in defiance to sixty-five MPs from the parliamentary majority who want to amend the electoral law to include voting from outside Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Amal argue that they do not enjoy the same campaigning freedom that other parties enjoy abroad and are objecting the amendment of the current law, which only allows expats to vote for six newly-introduced seats in parliament.

President Joseph Aoun announced Thursday that he is “entrusted with this country.”

“I am ready to do anything that contributes to its welfare, fends off war and secures the liberation of the South and reconstruction,” Aoun added, in a Baabda meeting with a delegation from the Lebanese Communist Party.

Nine Tannourine Mineral Water samples sent to the state-run Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute have tested free of bacteria and authorities are awaiting results from the state-run Industrial Research Institute and the American University of Beirut in order to take the appropriate decision, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani said on Thursday.

The Health Ministry had on Monday suspended Tannourine and ordered its products pulled from shelves after samples tested positive for the pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Thursday, as he visited the southern port city of Saida, that the government is keen on reconstructing the war-hit areas but its capabilities are limited.

"I am confident that we will succeed in holding two international conferences to drum up aid for developmental and reconstruction," Salam said, adding that his project is "to restore the state, and the trust of the (Lebanese) people".

The UK Defense Senior Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa (DSAME), Vice Admiral Edward Ahlgren, concluded Wednesday a two-day visit to Lebanon. He met with Lebanese leaders, UNIFIL Commander and visited a newly constructed Protected Border Observation Post (PBOP) on Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria.

The visit underscores the UK’s ongoing commitment to support the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in enhancing its ability to secure Lebanon’s borders and respond swiftly to threats, including smuggling and illegal cross-border activity, the British Embassy said. The new Protected Border Observation Post is part of a broader UK Integrated Security Fund program to strengthen Lebanon’s border infrastructure and reinforce the LAF’s operational capability including in border areas.

An Israeli drone has targeted a Renault Rapid car on the Siddiqin-Kafra road in the South, causing casualties

Pope Leo XIV will carry a message of peace to Lebanon and the Christians of the Middle East when he visits next month, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi told AFP on Wednesday.

The Vatican said last week that Pope Leo will travel to Turkey and Lebanon in a six-day trip beginning late November, his first since becoming head of the Catholic Church.