As he visited Damascus on Saturday, Druze leader Walid Jumblat discussed with Syrian rebel leader Abou Mohammad al-Jolani thirteen points that would help pave the way for a new era in relations.

A longtime critic of the old Syrian regime, Jumblat expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations "will return to normal" as he reportedly discussed with Jolani, who now prefers to be called by his real name Ahmad al-Sharaa, many Lebanese-Syrian issues, including the abolition of the Syrian-Lebanese Supreme Council - a joint council supervising a 1992 cooperation and coordination treaty between Syria and Lebanon.

The deputy head of Hezbollah's political council, Mahmoud Qmati, has said that his party will do everything it can to facilitate the election of a new Lebanese president.

Israeli forces on Monday raised the Israeli flag at entrance of the southern Lebanese border town of Naqoura.

Lebanese official media said the Israeli army handed over seven people to United Nations peacekeepers at the border on Sunday, amid a delicate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy handed over seven freed citizens, who were detained by the enemy after the ceasefire," the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Two recently retired senior Israeli intelligence agents shared new details about a deadly clandestine operation years in the making that targeted Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria using exploding pagers and walkie talkies three months ago.

Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the Israeli war on Gaza.

Iran's supreme leader denied Sunday that militant groups around the region functioned as Tehran's proxies, warning that if his country chose to "take action", it would not need them anyway.

The remarks came after a year in which Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza suffered heavy losses in wars with Israel, and two weeks after the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who had been a key link in Tehran's so-called axis of resistance.

A Christmas tree stands among the fallen stones of what remains of St. George Melkite Catholic Church in southern Lebanon. Once a vibrant community center, the 18th-century church is in ruins after an Israeli airstrike in October.

Georges Elia, a 40-year-old municipal worker and churchgoer, took it upon himself to bring some normalcy as the holiday season approached, weeks after a fragile ceasefire with Israel.

Caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati has begun a tour of military positions in Lebanon’s south, almost a month after a ceasefire deal that ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Mikati on Monday was on his first visit to the southern frontlines, where Lebanese soldiers under the U.S.-brokered deal are expected to gradually deploy, with Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops both expected to withdraw by the end of next month.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, during a visit to an Israeli military position in southern Lebanon, threatened Sunday to “crush Hezbollah’s head” if the group violates the ceasefire agreement.

Druze leader Walid Jumblat and an accompanying delegation on Sunday met in Damascus with Syrian rebel leader-turned-interim political leader Abou Mohammad al-Jolani, who now prefers to be called by his real name Ahmad al-Sharaa.