The Lebanese Forces’ coordinator in Jbeil, Pascal Sleiman, was killed during the attempt to steal his car Sunday in the Jbeil district, the Lebanese Army announced on Monday, after the man’s reported abduction raised tensions in the country and prompted protesters to block the vital Jbeil highway.

“The army’s Intelligence Directorate has managed to arrest most of the Syrian members of the gang that carried out the abduction operation,” the army said in a statement.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday lashed out at the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party in connection with the abduction of the LF’s Jbeil official Pascal Sleiman.

“After the LF’s coordinator in Jbeil was kidnapped yesterday, the LF party, Katab and malicious TV stations decided that it was Hezbollah who kidnapped him and we heard very detestable sectarian remarks that remind of civil war,” Nasrallah said in a speech commemorating slain Iranian general Mohammad Reza Zahedi.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are “dealing positively and flexibly with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein in his endeavor to provide the appropriate political atmosphere for the implementation of Resolution 1701,” a source close to the two parties said.

The unprecedented Israeli military escalation against Lebanon is aimed at “dragging us” into “an all-out war,” Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and visiting Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Monday discussed the Syrian refugee crisis, Beirut said, as Nicosia pushes the Lebanese authorities to stem boat departures.

Cyprus says the Israel-Hamas war since October, which has triggered a flare-up on the Israel-Lebanon border, has weakened Lebanon's efforts to monitor its territorial waters and prevent migrant vessel departures, reporting a surge in Syrian arrivals.

The Israeli military said Monday it killed a Hezbollah commander in an overnight air strike in Lebanon, as cross-border violence flares between Israel and the Iran-backed armed group.

Ali Ahmed Hussein of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Forces was "eliminated" by Israeli jets in the area of Sultaniyeh in southern Lebanon, the military said in a statement, accusing him of attacks against Israeli targets in recent months.

The Israeli army said it has reached "another phase" of preparation for war on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has spent months exchanging fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah generally targets Israeli positions close to the border, and says it is doing so in support of Hamas and Gaza.

Hezbollah attacked Monday the Ras al-Naqoura Israeli post with a suicide drone while Israeli artillery and warplanes bombed the Marjaaoun plain and al-Khiam.

Warplanes had struck overnight a house in Kfarkela and the town of Sultaniyeh in southern Lebanon, killing at least three people.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro appealed to all sides to recommit to the cessation of hostilities under the framework of resolution 1701, in a joint statement they published on Monday.

"It is six months since the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line began, and continue unabated, taking a heavy toll on both sides. The lives of thousands of people have been profoundly affected. Tens of civilians have tragically lost their lives while many more have lost their homes, their livelihoods and any sense of certainty for the future.

Israel's military said Sunday its warplanes had struck Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon, where the Iran-backed group has a strong presence, in retaliation for one of its drones being downed.

A source close to Hezbollah told an AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek region that the strikes targeted Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley.