Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stressed Friday that the May 2026 parliamentary elections will be held on time.

Berri added that “the remaining time does not allow for any amendment” of the electoral law, hinting that expats are supposed to vote for six newly-introduced seats and not the current 128 seats.

Following the controversy sparked by the illumination of the iconic Raouche Rock with images of slain Hezbollah chiefs Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar on Friday demanded the dissolution of the Lebanese Art Association-Rissalat.

Hajjar accused Rissalat of violating a memo by Beirut’s governor, the assembly notice it had submitted, “the laws that govern public properties” as well as public order, noting that it did not have “an authorization or prior permission” to illuminate the rock.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry announced Friday that it is following up on the issue of “Israel’s detention of two Lebanese citizens who were aboard the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla.”

The Ministry is “carrying out the necessary contacts to know their fate and secure their release as soon as possible,” it said in a statement.

Cabinet will convene at 3:00 pm Monday to discuss the army's first monthly report on its arms monopoly plan, TV networks said on Friday.

Cabinet had on August 5 tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict arms to the state by year end, an unprecedented move that theoretically paves the way for disarming Hezbollah.

Violent Israeli airstrikes targeted at dawn Friday the Ali al-Taher hills in the Nabatieh region, with the sounds of explosions echoing across south Lebanon.

The Israeli army claimed that it bombed the area after detecting Hezbollah “activities” in it, saying the strikes hit “weapons, military buildings and subterranean infrastructure.”

President Joseph Aoun met Thursday in Baabda with MP Mohammad Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc.

A terse statement issued by the Presidency said the two men discussed “a number of national issues and junctures.”

Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani said that Tehran’s ally Hezbollah remains "militarily strong and capable of tipping the scales," but noted that the group is currently idle in the face of Israel’s ceasefire violations.

"If Hezbollah is not taking action now, it is because it does not want to violate its commitment with Israel in the Lebanese ceasefire. Otherwise, it has the ability to change the course of events," Larijani added, according to the state-run Mehr News Agency.

Two activists of Lebanese origins were aboard the Gaza aid flotilla that was intercepted overnight by the Israeli navy and their fate remains unknown but were likely arrested by Israeli forces, media reports said on Thursday.

The reports identified the two Lebanese as Lina al-Tabbal and Mohammad al-Qaderi.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has stressed that “the relation between President Joseph Aoun and the government is governed by consensus for the sake of succeeding in reform and extending sovereignty.”

In an interview with An-Nahar newspaper, Salam also emphasized “the need to monopolize arms in the country,” noting that “this is what was stipulated in the presidential inauguration speech and the Ministerial Statement.”

Investigations in the file of violating PM Nawaf Salam’s order and illuminating the Raouche Rock with images of slain Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine continued on Thursday with the interrogation of two people under the supervision of State Prosecutor Jamal al-Hajjar, the National News Agency said.

Hajjar ordered the release of one of them while the second was freed but faces possible further interrogation, NNA added, identifying the second individual as the owner of the laser projector through which the rock was illuminated.