Attacks carried out by Israel on Friday in eastern Lebanon killed eight members of Hezbollah, an official from the group told AFP on Saturday.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that telling people the truth is not a choice but a must, as he defended new taxes approved earlier this week by his government.

"The financial situation we inherited is very difficult and the trust between the state and the people was damaged in the past," he said, vowing that "this won't happen again."

The Ministry of State for Administrative Reform; the American University of Beirut (AUB), through its Business Practice and Policy Initiative at the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business; and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Office in Beirut; announced Friday the launch of Y-IMPACT—Youth Involvement in Multi-Level Policy and Community Transformation.

The event took place at the Grand Serail, under the patronage of Dr. Nawaf Salam, president of the Council of Ministers in Lebanon, represented by Dr. Fadi Makki, minister of state for administrative reform.

The Israeli military will not withdraw from the so-called “buffer zones” in Lebanon and Syria, amid a shift in "Israel’s" security doctrine, which stipulates the expansion of these "buffer" areas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday.

The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad met Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, accompanied by a delegation from the Loyalty to Resistance bloc.

“We are keen on Lebanon’s security and stability and the normalcy of life in it, and we are also keen on confronting Israeli occupation so that it leaves our land and our people return to their villages and cities,” Raad said after the meeting.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday tackled Lebanon's situation in his speech at the first meeting of the so-called Board of Peace in Washington.

Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal has discussed, in a meeting in Yarze with the ambassadors of the Five-Nations Group - the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and France, a preparatory meeting that will be held next week in Egypt before the Lebanese Army support conference that will be held in Paris on March 5.

The meeting in Yarze discussed the importance of enhancing the capabilities of the Lebanese Army, as it moves to its next phase of Hezbollah's disarmament - north of the Litani river.

Israeli warplanes carried out strikes on the southern area of Tabna near Sidon overnight, with Israel claiming that it targeted Hezbollah arms depots, launchpads and military sites.

Troops also entered the southern border towns of Yaroun and Khiam and detonated two houses there, as incursions into Lebanese border villages increased in frequency in recent weeks.

President Joseph Aoun on Thursday received an official invitation from his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to join him in presiding over the Lebanese Army support conference that will be held in Paris on March 5, the Presidency said.

Israeli forces are on alert on Lebanon’s border out of concerns of a possible escalation with Hezbollah in connection with the growing possibility of a war with Iran, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The Israeli media outlet also said that the United States would inform Israel in advance should it decide to wage an attack on Iran.