Attacks carried out by Israel on Friday in eastern Lebanon killed eight members of Hezbollah, an official from the group told AFP on Saturday.

Hamas condemned Friday an Israeli strike on the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp that killed two people.

In a statement, Hamas said the attack led to "civilian" casualties.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that telling people the truth is not a choice but a must, as he defended new taxes approved earlier this week by his government.

"The financial situation we inherited is very difficult and the trust between the state and the people was damaged in the past," he said, vowing that "this won't happen again."

An Israeli strike on Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp killed two people on Friday, with Israel's army saying it had targeted the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The official National News Agency (NNA) later reported "heavy strikes" in the country's east, as Israel's army said it hit "Hezbollah command centers" in the Baalbek area.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri returned Friday to the United Arab Emirates after spending several days in Lebanon during which he delivered the annual February 14 speech and met with a number of politicians and ambassadors.

Hariri, who did not announce a decisive stance regarding participation in the parliamentary elections, is waiting to know the exact date of the elections and is “betting on time and on the continuation of the Arab and international efforts and mediations to lift the Saudi ban on him,” al-Binaa newspaper reported.

The Ministry of State for Administrative Reform; the American University of Beirut (AUB), through its Business Practice and Policy Initiative at the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business; and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Office in Beirut; announced Friday the launch of Y-IMPACT—Youth Involvement in Multi-Level Policy and Community Transformation.

The event took place at the Grand Serail, under the patronage of Dr. Nawaf Salam, president of the Council of Ministers in Lebanon, represented by Dr. Fadi Makki, minister of state for administrative reform.

The ambassadors of the five-nation group -- consisting of the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt, are seriously considering the possibility of postponing the Lebanese parliamentary elections, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported Friday.

The daily said it has learned from a senior official that the Quintet's ambassadors are mulling the postponement, amid confusion over how the expatriates will participate, for political considerations unrelated to the controversy surrounding the diaspora vote.

The Israeli military will not withdraw from the so-called “buffer zones” in Lebanon and Syria, amid a shift in "Israel’s" security doctrine, which stipulates the expansion of these "buffer" areas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday.

In a step reflecting a possible new escalation related to the electoral clash, Speaker Nabih Berri has decided to push Abbas Fawaz, the ex-head of the World Lebanese Cultural Union, to nominate himself for the newly-introduced and controversial 16th electoral district in the upcoming parliamentary elections, media reports said.

The Israeli army has ready plans that involve carrying out a preemptive attack on Hezbollah, Israel’s Maariv newspaper has reported, at tensions grow between the U.S., Israel and Iran.

Lebanese ministerial sources meanwhile told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that the Presidency has been conducting local and external contacts since Thursday morning in a bid to keep Lebanon safe from any escalation.