The Israeli army went on alert on the border with southern Lebanon on Thursday over fears that Hizbullah could retaliate over the assassination of a top official which it blamed on the Jewish state.

The state-run National News Agency said Israeli troops carried out patrols along the border and monitored the Lebanese side.

The Lebanese army began fortifying its security measures in the northern city of Tripoli on Thursday in an attempt to control the situation in the city a day after gunmen ceased activity and cautious calm prevailed.

According to the state-run National News Agency, the army removed obstacles and barricades set by gunmen near al-Ahram movie theater near Starco - Jabal Mohsen axis.

Mortar shells fired from war-torn Syria hit overnight the outskirts of the towns of al-Dbabiyeh, al-Noura and Kuishra in in the northern district of Akkar, the state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday.

According to NNA, the shelling didn't cause any casualties.

One side of the airport road's tunnel was shortly blocked during the Thursday morning rush hour after a Civil Defense Department vehicle used to pump out the accumulating rainwater broke down, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The Internal Security Forces and the department later removed the vehicle from the tunnel to allow commuters to reach their destinations.

The U.S. State Department hoped on Wednesday that all Lebanese parties would cooperate with the probe into the assassination of Hizbullah official Hajj Hassan Hollo al-Laqqis.

“We’ve seen the media reports regarding the killing of a Hizbullah official. We look to all parties to cooperate with a full investigation into the reported incident, and I think that’s all we have on that right now,” deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Wednesday.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea informed the Free Patriotic Movement, which made an initiative to hold talks with various Lebanese blocs to end the political standstill, that his parliamentary bloc will not meet the Change and Reform Delegation.

LF MP Fadi Karam told al-Akhbar newspaper published on Thursday that the decision was taken by Geagea, who finds the initiative “useless.”

Al-Mustaqbal Movement lashed out at Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat over his recent statements, considering that the Druze leader has “no right to make al-Mustaqbal a target for political sniper gunshots.”

“Al-Mustaqbal movement has been avoiding to engage in any debate that might target the origin of the historical ties with Jumblat,” a prominent official in al-Mustaqbal told al-Joumhouria newspaper on condition of anonymity.

President Michel Suleiman and Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati granted Caretaker Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi an “exceptional approval” to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Thursday, the general-secretary of cabinet Secretary General Suheil Bouji handed over a memorandum to Safadi reminding him of Suleiman and Miqati's “exceptional approval.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said that the decision to announce his candidacy for the presidency lied on several factors but the presidential elections should first be preceded by straightening the country's political situation.

“We will discuss it with our allies and inside the LF executive authority at the appropriate time although my decision is linked to a group of factors that will determine if I will be a candidate or not,” Geagea told several local dailies in interviews published on Thursday.

A new group of Lebanese fighters have been killed in Syria while fighting alongside rebels, according to media reports.

“Lebanese national Ahmed al-Hujairi and 13 gunmen were killed in a Syrian army ambush between the Rima Farms and Nabak” in the Syrian region of Qalamoun, al-Mayadeen television reported.