Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday alleged that Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil is “doing the impossible and crossing all red lines and constitutional limits” in order to “get rid of General Joseph Aoun in the army chief post for purely personal and opportunist considerations.”

“According to the available information, he is working night and day to appoint a new army commander. Despite our respect for all the candidates proposed for this post, he has totally disregarded everything that he had stated in terms of rejecting the ministerial decrees that have been issued over the past year because they encroach on the president’s jurisdiction,” Geagea said.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday said he rejects “the unjust campaigns against His Eminence, Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, over his honest calls for supporting the displaced Lebanese.”

“His Eminence’s call for supporting the displaced expresses a unifying national stance,” Berri said in a statement.

Israeli warplanes and artillery bombed Friday the outskirts of the Lebanese border towns of al-Jebbayn, al-Labbouneh, Aitaroun, Yarine, Dhaira, Mays al-Jabal, Blida Houla, Tayr Harfa, Aita al-Shaab, Rab Tlatine, al-Taybe, Rmeish, and Wadi Mozlem.

Israel had shelled overnight with heavy and flare shells al-Naqoura, Blida, al-Khiam, Borj al-Moulouk, Kfarshouba, and Kfarhamam.

Israeli warplanes and artillery bombed Thursday morning several border towns including al-Khiyam, al-Naqoura, al-Labbouneh, Aita al-Shaab, and Marjeyoun's plain, in strikes described as preemtive.

Israel later shelled Kfarkela, Ramia, Odeisseh, Markaba, Beit Leef, Dhaira, Alma al-Shaab, Houla, Mays al-Jabal, Mhaibib, Aitaroun and other border towns after Hezbollah targeted several Israeli posts including al-Assi, Miskav Am, al-Marj, al-Bayyad, Metulla, and the Yiftah barracks.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday said that his government is continuing to shoulder its responsibilities amid the dire conditions in Lebanon and the region.

“With national pride, we stress that together we are continuing to shoulder the responsibility of acting in caretaker capacity, facilitating people’s affairs, protecting the country and immunizing state institutions. Against the backdrop of the Gaza war and tragedies, we raise our voice to announce that the scenes of blood and killing will not manage to kill the rights,” Mikati said during a Cabinet session.

Druze leader Walid Jumblat on Thursday defended Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi after he was attacked on social media by pro-Hezbollah journalists and activists.

“We condemn any domestic inflammatory remarks, especially against Patriarch al-Rahi, during this extraordinarily dangerous period in the history of Lebanon and the region,” Jumblat said in a post on the X platform, formerly Twitter.

Israeli drones and artillery bombed Wednesday several southern towns including Markaba, Rab Tlatine, al-Khiyam, Tayr Harfa, al-Jebbayn, Yarine, Blida, Kfarkela, Jabal Blat, Aita al-Shaab, Yaroun, Houla, al-Labbouneh, Marwahine, Rmeish, Odeisseh, al-Bustan, al-Naqoura, Mays al-Jabal, Kfarshouba and al-Dhaira.

Hezbollah for its parts targeted several Israeli posts including the Ramim barracks, the Rwaisat al-Alam post on the occupied Shebaa Farms, Berket Risha, Jabal al-Tiyarat, and Jal al-Alam, "inflicting casualties", amid reports of a volley of rockets launched from Lebanon, which activated alert sirens in Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot and Misgav Am. These Israeli towns have been largely evacuated of civilians. Israeli reports said the volley of rockets has landed in open areas in the Kiryat Shmona region.

Hezbollah is not eager to ramp up its hostilities against Israel, the Russian foreign minister has said.

Moscow does not believe that Iran, Lebanon or Hezbollah want the Israel-Palestine war to escalate into a broader regional conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told Russia’s RT television.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed the need for a two-state solution as "Palestinians cannot remain without a state."

In a meeting Wednesday with United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka, Geagea said that the border skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah in the south do not serve anyone, "especially Lebanon and its people."

Israeli forces entered Gaza's largest hospital Wednesday, allegedly targeting a suspected Hamas command center they say is located below thousands of ailing and sheltering civilians.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said military operations were taking place at Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, which has been the focal point of days of fighting and nearby aerial bombardments.