Any settlement that “does not guarantee Lebanon's sovereignty” cannot be accepted, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut.

“We are communicating with (U.S. Secretary of State Antony) Blinken and (U.S. mediator Amos) Hochstein to speed up the ceasefire in Lebanon,” Abdelatty added.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Wednesday that the second phase of Israel’s ground operation in south Lebanon “will not give it the victory image it is seeking” after “its failure in the first ground campaign.”

The European Council has adopted an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility (EPF) worth €15 million to the benefit of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the EU Delegation to Lebanon said.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that only U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) should be present on the table of negotiations, adding that “both sides should work on implementing its stipulations and commit to them, not only the Lebanese side.”

The timing of the Lebanese Army’s deployment in the area south of the Litani River is among the points of contention in the negotiations, informed sources told the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

Israeli warplanes started bombarding Beirut's southern suburbs around noon Wednesday after fresh evacuation warnings were issued by Israel for six areas in Haret Hreik and Ghobeiri.

TV footage showed a plume of black smoke rising over the area after a strike, about an hour after Israel’s army told residents to leave, in the third such warning in 24 hours.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike killed at least six people on Wednesday in a densely-packed area south of the capital Beirut, outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.

"The Israeli enemy strike on Aramoun killed six people" and wounded 15 others, the ministry said giving a preliminary toll, adding that "body parts were recovered from the site and their identities are being verified."

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein said he believes "there is a shot" of securing a ceasefire deal in Lebanon soon, telling U.S. news portal Axios: "I am hopeful we can get it."

Druze leader and former Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat does not conceal his pessimism as to the ongoing Israeli war on Lebanon, saying he does not see a glimpse of hope regarding an imminent end to the "open war between Iran and Israel in Lebanon."

Lebanon's stance on the ongoing war is "clear: a ceasefire and the implementation of Resolution 1701," Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has said.