Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who had visited earlier this month several war-hit southern cities and towns, said that the state has returned to south Lebanon "to stay".

He vowed, in a televised interview Thursday, to visit the south again and to secure all means of subsistence for its residents.

Israeli military strikes in eastern Lebanon killed a Syrian teenager on Thursday, the Lebanese health ministry reported, while the Israeli army said it had struck eight compounds belonging to an elite Hezbollah unit.

"Israeli enemy air strikes on the Bekaa this evening resulted, according to an initial toll, in the killing of a 16-year-old Syrian boy and the injury of another person," the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement.

An Israeli drone struck Thursday the Ali al-Taher forest in the Nabatieh district.

The Israeli army had earlier said that over recent months, its forces have destroyed Hezbollah infrastructure in south Lebanon, preventing the group from rebuilding itself.

As Cabinet convened Thursday at the Grand Serail, Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar said it is more likely than not that the parliamentary elections will be held on time, with the number of candidates rising to 30.

"The ministry has not received any request to postpone," he told MTV before the cabinet session.

Israel did not send any representative to the meeting of the U.S.-led Mechanism ceasefire committee on Wednesday, which marked the first such boycott since the creation of the panel, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

“The committee’s chair, U.S. general Joseph Clearfield, was meanwhile absent for the second time and was substituted by an officer from his assistant team,” the daily said.

The Lebanese Army can finalize the north Litani disarmament plan within four months “should our armed forces find the same helping and assisting factors that were provided during the implementation of the previous phase,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said.

“In order to complete this plan with all its phases, we as a government will work to provide our armed forces with all the necessary capabilities,” Salam said during an iftar banquet.

The past 24 hours witnessed a “dramatic development” in Hezbollah’s stance regarding possible intervention in any war involving Iran, senior sources said.

Hezbollah sent reassuring messages to the Lebanese state through the open communication and dialogue channels, saying that it will abide by “combat neutrality” and will not engage in a confrontation should the situation descend into a war on Iran, the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Thursday.

A decree was issued Thursday calling for an extraordinary session of parliament to begin on March 2 and conclude on March 16.

The decree, signed by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, outlines the agenda for this extraordinary session, including draft laws already submitted to parliament, those yet to be submitted, and any other draft laws, proposals, or texts that the Parliament Bureau decides to present to the assembly.

A Hezbollah official told AFP on Wednesday that the Lebanese movement would not intervene militarily in the event of "limited" U.S. strikes on its backer Iran, but would consider any attack against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a "red line".

The U.S. has repeatedly threatened Iran over its contentious nuclear program, and Lebanese authorities fear Hezbollah could become involved if a potential U.S. attack triggered a regional war.

Defense Minister Michel Menassa on Wednesday clarified that the Hamat Air base in north Lebanon is “a Lebanese air base belonging to the Lebanese Army Air Force” and that “no other entity within it has any authority or power above Lebanese laws.”

"Recently, news, reports, and writings have increased regarding the military airbase in the Hamat area of the Batroun district in North Lebanon. Some of these are questions and inquiries, some are speculations and scenarios, and some are linked to developments and movements in the region and neighboring countries,” Menassa said.