The leaders of France, Lebanon and Jordan on Thursday met in Paris to discuss international support for the cash-strapped Lebanese army and the creation of a new force to succeed a longstanding U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

The talks discussed intensifying international efforts to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable de-escalation and restore regional stability, the Lebanese presidency said.

Parliament renewed its confidence in Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government on Wednesday with 68 votes in favor, 12 against, and two abstentions, following two days of heated debate.

Hezbollah MPs walked out of the session shortly before the vote of confidence was held. Lawmakers from the Free Patriotic Movement voted against the government, while Amal MPs voted in favor.

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that he's going to block a proposed sale of $2.8 billion in heavy weaponry to Israel over concerns that the powerful bombs may not be used in line with U.S. and international law.

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said he would withhold approval for the sale because of "grave, unresolved concerns" about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Rescuers escorted by the Lebanese army on Wednesday discovered the bodies of two men killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier, state media reported.

The two men were reported missing on Tuesday after they were "targeted" by the Israeli military between Nabatieh and Zawtar al-Sharqiya, the official National News Agency (NNA) said.

The heads of state of Lebanon, France and Jordan will meet Thursday in Paris as part of an effort to drum up support for the struggling Lebanese military.

A donor conference for Lebanon's cash-strapped army was initially set to take place in February, led by France, Saudi Arabia and the United States. However, it was postponed following the eruption of the Iran war and the latest round of the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter held a meeting overnight in the presence of U.S. State Department Counselor Daniel Holler.

President Joseph Aoun left for Paris on Wednesday, meeting an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the general situation in Lebanon and the region, as well as bilateral relations between the two countries.

Aoun will on Thursday join Macron and King Abdullah II of Jordan for the opening of the preparatory meeting for the international conference in support of the Lebanese Army and security forces.

Israeli forces carried out detonations on Wednesday in the southern border towns of Teeri and al-Mansouri while artillery shelled overnight into Wednesday Kfartebnit, Marjaayoun, Baraashit, and Wadi Zebqine.

Israeli strikes meanwhile targeted Wadi Zebqine and a region between Mayfadoun and Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh.

Former President Michel Aoun, represented by lawyer Wadih Akl, on Wednesday filed a criminal complaint, after media reports said the public prosecution has requested that he be indicted over the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

The second day of a general parliamentary debate session witnessed renewed verbal clashes between lawmakers from Hezbollah and political rivals.

“Go check what the Israelis said about Ali al-Taher. Shame on you,” MP Ihab Hamadeh of Hezbollah told his political foes, prompting MP Waddah Sadek to say, “Go check who brought the Israelis into the country!”