Senior military leaders from the United Nations and three countries gathered Oct. 15 in Naqoura, Lebanon for the 11th Pentalateral meeting where officials aligned priorities for “maintaining the cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Lebanese Hezbollah,” the U.S. Central Command said.

“Military leaders from the United States, France, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) discussed the LAF’s continued disarmament operations. The LAF has successfully removed nearly 10,000 rockets, almost 400 missiles, and over 205,000 unexploded ordnance fragments during the past year,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

The Health Ministry announced overnight that nine new Tannourine mineral water samples taken from the Lebanese market have tested free of bacteria.

The Ministry however noted that it is yet to receive the results of tests conducted on water samples taken from the company’s production line.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Friday with President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss the latest developments in the country and the region, including repeated Israeli strikes on the south.

On Thursday, violent Israeli strikes in the south killed one person and wounded seven, with President Aoun saying that the strikes targeted "civilian facilities".

A series of violent Israeli airstrikes targeted south Lebanon on Thursday afternoon and evening, killing one person and wounding seven others, with media reports describing them as among the fiercest since the November ceasefire.

Israeli airstrikes targeted Thursday the outskirts of the Sidon district town of Bnaafoul and the Ali al-Taher hill near Nabatieh in south Lebanon and and the Bekaa town of Shmestar in the east.

Al-Manar said the Israeli strike on Shmestar hit a building that had been previously targeted.

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Thursday that Israel has not achieved its goals in Lebanon, accusing the U.S. of obstructing the reconstruction of war-hit regions.

Fadlallah said that even though the balance of power has shifted in the region and in Lebanon, the resistance is still protecting the South despite Israeli plans of occupying it and transforming it to a buffer zone.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has reassured that the parliamentary elections will take place on time but only in Lebanon, in defiance to sixty-five MPs from the parliamentary majority who want to amend the electoral law to include voting from outside Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Amal argue that they do not enjoy the same campaigning freedom that other parties enjoy abroad and are objecting the amendment of the current law, which only allows expats to vote for six newly-introduced seats in parliament.

President Joseph Aoun announced Thursday that he is “entrusted with this country.”

“I am ready to do anything that contributes to its welfare, fends off war and secures the liberation of the South and reconstruction,” Aoun added, in a Baabda meeting with a delegation from the Lebanese Communist Party.

Nine Tannourine Mineral Water samples sent to the state-run Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute have tested free of bacteria and authorities are awaiting results from the state-run Industrial Research Institute and the American University of Beirut in order to take the appropriate decision, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani said on Thursday.

The Health Ministry had on Monday suspended Tannourine and ordered its products pulled from shelves after samples tested positive for the pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Thursday, as he visited the southern port city of Saida, that the government is keen on reconstructing the war-hit areas but its capabilities are limited.

"I am confident that we will succeed in holding two international conferences to drum up aid for developmental and reconstruction," Salam said, adding that his project is "to restore the state, and the trust of the (Lebanese) people".