Hezbollah supporters blocked the Beirut airport road and burned tires on Thursday to protest a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing in the Lebanese capital, state media and an airport official said.

"Young men set tires on fire in front of the airport entrance, raising banners supporting Hezbollah's former Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah," said Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Thursday that Lebanon rejected Israel's demand to remain in five locations in the south after the deadline for fully implementing a ceasefire deal next week.

The United States, a key mediator, "informed me that the Israeli occupation will withdraw from villages it still occupies on February 18, but it will remain in five points," Hezbollah ally Berri said.

Speaker Nabih Berri “does not trust all the promises that are being made by the Americans” regarding the Israeli army’s withdrawal from south Lebanon by the Feb. 18 deadline, his visitors said.

President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that he is continuing his contacts to compel Israel to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon by the February 18 deadline.

Israel is still pressing to win U.S. approval for retaining five strategic hills in south Lebanon that it deems as strategic for the security of its settlements, something that Lebanon has categorically rejected, media reports said.

A Hezbollah delegation led by MP Mohammad Raad on Thursday handed President Joseph Aoun an invitation to attend the funerals of slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Sayyed Hashem Safieddine.

Israel will hold onto five strategic high points just inside Lebanon after next Tuesday’s ceasefire deadline requiring it to withdraw all troops, a top Israeli government official told U.S. news outlet Bloomberg.

The Israeli army claimed overnight that the Iranian Quds Force and Hezbollah have been exploiting civilian flights landing at Beirut airport over the past few weeks in an alleged attempt to “smuggle funds aimed at arming Hezbollah with the objective of carrying out attacks against the State of Israel.”

President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that Israel must withdraw all its forces from Lebanon by next week’s deadline.

In a statement, Aoun denied media reports of another extension to the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. The U.S.- and French-brokered truce, reached in late November, gave Israel 60 days to withdraw while Hezbollah repositioned north of the Litani River.

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber on Wednesday thanked Speaker Nabih Berri for backing his nomination to the post and President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam for their “confidence.”