The “Hezbollah weakening round” must take place “before the end of the year,” an Israeli security source has said.

“Lebanon’s government will not carry out this mission and we will not wait,” the source said.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Tuesday voiced concern over the security situation, noting that Lebanon is going through a “state of war.”

“Today we are in a state of war, even if it is some sort of war of attrition -- a one-sided war that is escalating,” Salam said during an inspection visit to the Port of Beirut.

Senior Hezbollah official Ali Damush said Monday during the funeral of Hezbollah's top military chief Haytham Ali Tabatabai that his killing aimed to push Hezbollah into "surrendering and submitting, but this goal will never be achieved".

Israel was "worried about Hezbollah's possible response -- and should remain worried", he said, urging Lebanese authorities to "confront the aggression by all means... and reject the pressures that seek to push Lebanon to comply with American dictates and Israeli conditions".

French President Emmanuel Macron has noted that the situation in Lebanon "remains extremely fragile," as he described President Joseph Aoun's latest speech as "very important."

U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight that he would invite President Joseph Aoun to the White House.

On behalf of the United States, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday offered his "best wishes and heartfelt congratulations" to the people of Lebanon as they commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the country's independence.

"This year, the Government of Lebanon has taken courageous steps to promote a brighter future for the Lebanese people," Rubio said in a statement, apparently referring to the government's arms monopolization decisions.

President Joseph Aoun on Friday said that Lebanon "has grown tired of the state's absence" and "the Lebanese have grown exhausted of the projects of statelets."

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that Lebanon no longer has the luxury of wasting time and opportunities, calling for peace and tolerance.

"We have squandered many opportunities, including the Taif Agreement, the failure to deploy the army in the South in 2000 and to manage our political affairs after the Syrian mandate," Salam said.

The Lebanese Forces said in a statement Friday that the real "spreaders of venom" are Hezbollah, without naming the group, after pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar published a report in which it accused a senior LF official of being an "informant" on Hezbollah to the U.S. administration.

President Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri had both mentioned Lebanese politicians "spreading venom" in Washington without naming them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has noted that "the threat posed by Hezbollah today is completely different from what it was before October 7," stressing that "everything has changed."

He explained that Iran may try to rebuild the so-called Axis of Resistance, emphasizing that "Israel will work to prevent that in Lebanon and elsewhere."