Druze leader Walid Jumblat has said that he does not fear a new civil war in Lebanon because such a war "requires two armed sides, and currently only Hezbollah possesses weapons."

Israel and Lebanon are expected to agree on an Israeli military withdrawal from Lebanese territory in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is "opti-pessimistic" regarding the third round of direct talks with Israel, noting that "there is no ceasefire" and reiterating his preference for indirect negotiations to reach a genuine truce.

A nominal ceasefire reached last month has spared Beirut from strikes, but war has continued in southern and eastern Lebanon. A strike also targeted Beirut's southern suburbs during the truce.

A third round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon kicked off in Washington Thursday, days before the expiration of a truce that reduced but did not stop the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Lebanese officials are hoping that the two-day negotiations will yield a new ceasefire deal and pave the way for tackling a series of thorny issues, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Ayman al-Zain watched on a recent afternoon as a bulldozer cleared the rubble of what used to be his sports clothing store, which was one of dozens of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes.

With a nominal truce in place that has reduced but not halted the fighting, Al-Zain tried to assess whether to rebuild the shop in Beirut's southern suburbs that he once hoped to pass down to his kids. But it's unlikely he will be able to do so anytime soon, and not only because of the fear of more airstrikes.

Hezbollah said on Thursday that it targeted Israeli troops in northern Israel with a drone, as Lebanon and Israel were holding a new round of direct talks in Washington.

In a statement, the group said it "targeted a gathering of Israeli enemy army soldiers at the Rosh HaNikra site" near the border with Lebanon with a drone.

The United States on Thursday sought to extend a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel -- considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes -- ends on Sunday.

Israel has pounded Lebanon and invaded its south in response to retaliatory fire from Hezbollah following Israel's killing of Iran's supreme leader at the start of the war on February 28.

Israel's military said Friday that one of its soldiers died in combat in southern Lebanon, bringing its losses to 20 personnel since the war with Hezbollah began in early March.

Staff Sergeant Negev Dagan, 20, "fell during combat in southern Lebanon", the military said, without providing additional information.

Six people were killed Friday in strikes on south Lebanon, hours before Lebanese and Israeli envoys were set to meet for a second day of talks in Washington.

Israel's military called on residents of five villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate ahead of expected attacks, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt the fighting.

The Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with the top U.S. military leader in the Middle East ended with a focus on the challenge of disarming Hezbollah.

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, the committee’s Republican chair, noted how Hezbollah has continually fired rockets into Israel, while Israel had launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon focused on Hezbollah, displacing a million people.