Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel has accused Hezbollah of wanting to keep the Syrian refugee crisis unresolved in order to “pressure Europe and the West to free Syria of its isolation.”

“It is pressuring Lebanon to normalize relations with Syria and it is using Lebanon, the Lebanese people and the Syrian people present in Lebanon as a pressure card,” Gemayel added in a TV interview.

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has noted that “Hezbollah is defending Lebanon,” while describing Israel as “Lebanon’s historic enemy.”

“When the war started in the south, I said that we should not get involved or that Hezbollah should not get implicated in the war, but the war started,” Jumblat said in an interview with the BBC.

Head of Hezbollah's executive council, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, warned Israel on Friday that Hezbollah is ready to use new weapons in the battlefield.

Hezbollah has regularly fired missiles across the border with Israel over the past seven months, but has on Thursday launched its first successful missile airstrike from within Israeli airspace, using a drone that fired two missiles. The attack wounded three soldiers, one of them seriously, according to the Israeli military.

The governments of eight European Union member states said Friday the situation in Syria should be re-evaluated to allow for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees back to their homeland.

In a joint declaration, officials from Austria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Malta and Poland said they agree on a re-assessment that would lead to "more effective ways of handling" Syrian refugees trying to reach European Union countries.

Hezbollah this week struck a military post in northern Israel using a drone that fired two missiles. The attack wounded three soldiers, one of them seriously, according to the Israeli military.

Hezbollah has regularly fired missiles across the border with Israel over the past seven months, but the one on Thursday appears to have been the first successful missile airstrike it has launched from within Israeli airspace.

After more than 18 months of presidential void in Lebanon, the ambassadors of Egypt, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United States reemphasized Thursday in a joint statement the dire situation facing the Lebanese people and the irreversible implications of delaying the crucial reforms on Lebanon’s economy and social stability. "Lebanon cannot afford to wait another month," they said.

"The country needs and deserves a president who unites the nation, prioritizes the well-being of its citizens, and forms a broad and inclusive coalition to restore political stability and implement necessary economic reforms. The election of a president is also needed to ensure that Lebanon has a seat at the table in regional discussions and to conclude a future diplomatic deal on Lebanon’s southern border," the statement said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for Israel's withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territories Thursday as he participated in an Arab League summit in Bahrain dominated by the Israel-Hamas war.

Mikati urged fellow heads of state and government at the 22-strong grouping in the capital Manama to "pressure Israel to withdraw from our occupied land and stop its violations and attacks on our land, sea and air."

The draft closing statement of the Arab Summit that will be held today, Thursday in Manama will express support for “the Lebanese republic and its sovereignty, stability and territorial integrity.”

“We urge all Lebanese parties to give the priority to the election of a president, to strengthen the work of state institutions, to address the political and security challenges, and to implement the necessary economic reforms,” the draft statement says.

Lebanese state-run media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country's south on Thursday killed two people, with Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers saying at least one of them was a group member.

Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire since the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, now in its eighth month.

Parliament convened Wednesday and approved a binding recommendation aimed at “returning the illegal Syrian migrants and residents in Lebanon to their country within a year at the latest.”

To this end, the legislature recommended that the government form a ministerial committee to “communicate and directly and strenuously follow up with the international and regional sides and the various bodies, especially with the Syrian government, and to devise a detailed timeframe for repatriating the displaced (Syrians), except for special cases protected by the Lebanese laws and specified by the committee.”