Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil,/ stated in an interview on Al-Jadeed TV that the FPM is "much stronger outside of power."

At least 17 Israeli airstrikes targeted Friday several regions in south Lebanon, including the valley between Msayleh, Tefahta and al-Najjariyeh.

The Israeli army said it is targeted "Hezbollah infrastructure" in the South Lebanon, while local media outlets reported a series of violent strikes.

Thousands of Shiite Muslims who fled Syria after former President Bashar Assad's government was toppled in an offensive by Sunni rebels in December 2024 have found a new home in Lebanon.

Many of them stayed in mosques, schools or with relatives in Lebanon until the Imam Ali Housing Compound — funded by Hezbollah and Shiite religious institutions in Iraq and Iran — was opened in late 2025.

The government approved Friday an agreement to transfer Syrian prisoners serving their sentences in Lebanon back to their home country.

The issue of prisoners has been a sore point as the neighboring countries seek to recalibrate their relations following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led insurgents in December 2024. Former insurgent leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now Syria's interim president.

A decree setting the dates of the upcoming parliamentary elections was issued Friday in Lebanon’s official gazette, signed by President Joseph Aoun, PM Nawaf Salam and Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Friday reaffirmed that the U.S.-led Mechanism committee “remains fully in place and operational,” and that it will meet on February 25, following the latest reports about its fate.

Political forces agree that the dialogue between President Joseph Aoun and MP Mohammad Raad is currently suspended and fraught with irreconcilable differences, a media report said.

A prominent political source from the Shiite Duo meanwhile told the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem’s latest threat that Hezbollah might militarily support Iran in the event of a new war is unlikely to be translated into actions, calling them verbal solidarity.

An airstrike targeted a car Friday in the southern town of Siddiqin in the Tyre district, killing one person.

The Israeli army said it targeted a Hezbollah member in the strike.

President Joseph Aoun said Friday that the reconstruction of war-hit regions in south Lebanon is a priority, as he met a delegation from the southern border villages.

Aoun told the delegation that "the reconstruction of the destroyed and damaged villages is at the forefront of our priorities, in order to facilitate the return of the (displaced) residents."

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil lashed out overnight at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea after the latter accused him of corruption during a live interview on MTV.