Lebanese Presidency sources said Tuesday that the Rome talks between Lebanon and Israel were discussing the issue of the so-called pilot zones in order to issue a decision regarding them.

Commenting on the renewed confrontation between Tehran and Washington, Speaker Nabih Berri has said that "the atmosphere in the region is negative and gloomy as a result of the current escalation," expressing hope that it "will be contained before it worsens, especially since there is ultimately no alternative to returning to negotiations and the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding."

Israeli artillery shelling on Tuesday targeted the Wadi al-Hujeir valley in southern Lebanon.

President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday deplored Iran’s attacks against several Gulf states and Jordan -- which followed U.S. strikes on the Islamic republic -- as well as an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against an airport in southern Saudi Arabia that followed an attack on Sanaa’s airport.

President Joseph Aoun visited Doha on Tuesday to offer condolences to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani over the death of his father, the late emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

President Joseph Aoun vowed Monday not to compromise on Lebanon's sovereign rights or the security of its southern border, ahead of crucial regional negotiations in Rome.

Aoun insisted on a full Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territories and a written commitment from Israel that it has no ambitions in Lebanon.

MP Hussein al-Hajj Hassan of Hezbollah on Monday suggested that "the Presidency and the government are committing to things they cannot implement” in the negotiations with Israel.

Israeli forces detonated and burned houses in the southern town of Haddatha, on Monday, and carried out at dawn massive explosions in Bint Jbeil.

Israeli artillery later shelled the Nabatieh-Kfartebnit region, the National News Agency said.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter has said that the Israeli army will only withdraw from Lebanon if Hezbollah is removed from pilot zones in the country's south.

Israel is still procrastinating and coming up with excuses to delay withdrawal from south Lebanon despite U.S. and Lebanese pressure in this regard, media reports said.