Hezbollah has conveyed to relevant parties that it will not grant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “what he wants, at the timing he desires, merely to serve his electoral calculations,” a prominent political source said.

“The military silence it is maintaining is not without reason,” the source told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday said that the loyalty of the Lebanese must be to their country, warning that “anyone who seeks external backing against a fellow citizen at home is bound to lose, because foreign powers will eventually abandon them.”

“No war in Lebanon has ever produced a winner; rather, everyone lost, and the nation itself suffered. We chose the path of negotiation because we are a sovereign state; this decision serves Lebanon’s interests and is not intended to appease any foreign party,” Aoun said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea expressed deep concern Wednesday that Nabatieh could face the same fate as Ali al-Taher and Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, calling on state authorities to strictly enforce decisions outlawing Hezbollah’s military and security wings.

Geagea urged the government to act firmly by expelling all illegal gunmen from Nabatieh and dismantling non-state military infrastructure to help secure a ceasefire in and around the southern city.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday stated that “just as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always stood by Lebanon during every crisis it has faced, it is our duty, as Lebanese people, to stand united with the Kingdom as it faces heinous and bloody attacks."

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeted oil facilities in south Saudi Arabia in recent days, wounding dozens, as deadly fighting and Saudi airstrikes renewed in Yemen after a Houthi offensive towards the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab chokepoint.

The Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, told U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa that Lebanon's Shiite community did not take up arms by choice, but out of necessity to confront Israeli occupation, Al-Liwaa newspaper reported Wednesday.

During their Tuesday meeting, Khatib rejected designations labeling the Shiite community as "terrorists." He emphasized that Shiites are open to resolving the thorny issue of disarmament, "provided they are given security guarantees and protection to safeguard their future and survival in Lebanon", the daily added.

Retired military personnel on Wednesday staged protests at the Riad Al-Solh Square, near the entrance to Parliament, and in other locations in the country to reject the 2027 draft state budget, which failed to include any adjustment to ranks and salaries.

They criticized authorities for overlooking their demands, accusing them of being indifferent to the hardships they face in meeting their living expenses.

Joint Saudi-American diplomatic efforts over the past 24 hours have succeeded in de-escalating tensions in southern Lebanon following direct U.S. engagement with Israel, local media reported.

U.S. sources told al-Jadeed that meetings between American and Saudi officials focused on the Lebanese file, with Riyadh backing the Lebanese government's demands to secure a permanent solution.

One person was killed Wednesday in an Israeli strike on his motorcycle on the Zebdine-Marj Harouf road.

Israeli artillery shelled overnight into Wednesday the southern towns of Kfar Remman, al-Mansouri, Wadi Zebqine, Mays al-Jabal and Qabrikha, while strikes targeted Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Wadi Zebqine, Wadi Slouqi and Kfartebnit.

The Lebanese military said Tuesday it had rescued over 20 people off the country's northern coast after a boat trying to smuggle them out broke down.

A military statement said the naval forces, along with the civil defense agency and the Red Cross, rescued "22 people during an attempt to smuggle them illegally aboard a boat after it broke down off the coast of Tripoli," the largest city in the north.

Contacts made by President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Nawaf Salam, in addition to Arab and international efforts, have contributed to pacifying the situation in the city of Nabatieh, Al-Jadeed TV said on Tuesday, after 27 people were killed and 69 others were wounded in three days of Israeli attacks in the Nabatieh region.

Future steps might be taken to “consolidate and immunize stability through the deployment of the Lebanese army and security forces,” Al-Jadeed added.