Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that Lebanon no longer has the luxury of wasting time and opportunities, calling for peace and tolerance.

"We have squandered many opportunities, including the Taif Agreement, the failure to deploy the army in the South in 2000 and to manage our political affairs after the Syrian mandate," Salam said.

The Lebanese Forces said in a statement Friday that the real "spreaders of venom" are Hezbollah, without naming the group, after pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar published a report in which it accused a senior LF official of being an "informant" on Hezbollah to the U.S. administration.

President Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri had both mentioned Lebanese politicians "spreading venom" in Washington without naming them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has noted that "the threat posed by Hezbollah today is completely different from what it was before October 7," stressing that "everything has changed."

He explained that Iran may try to rebuild the so-called Axis of Resistance, emphasizing that "Israel will work to prevent that in Lebanon and elsewhere."

President Joseph Aoun said Friday, amid a visit to the south Litani sector command, that the army is committed to protecting the Lebanese and the southeners despite being targeted by campaigns of defamation and incitement.

During the visit, a day ahead of Lebanon's independence day, Aoun hoped that the next independence day would come with the entire south liberated and only the Lebanese flag raised on its borders.

Marking nearly one year since the November Understanding came into effect, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, told the United Nations Security Council that “since that time, noteworthy progress has been achieved on some issues, while others remain at a standstill”.

Briefing the Security Council on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) alongside United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Special Coordinator emphasized that “time is of the essence”, noting that “Lebanon can no longer afford to be perceived as dragging its feet – on either its participation in dialogue or the establishment of a State monopoly on arms”. While commending the Lebanese Armed Forces for the progress seen in tackling non-State arms, particularly south of the Litani River, Hennis-Plasschaert stressed the outstanding and urgent need for a whole-of-government approach to the extension of State authority. “The army, alone, cannot bring resolution 1701 to life”, she said.

Israel used widely banned cluster munitions in its latest war on Lebanon, The Guardian said in a report, based on photos seen by arms experts.

Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapons that release or eject smaller submunitions over a wide area, posing risks to civilians even after attacks as unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians and are hard to be located.

The ministers of energy of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon met Thursday in Amman to discuss a plan to bring gas and electricity to crisis-hit Lebanon from Jordan via Syria.

Joint technical teams would be formed to assess the Syrian and Lebanese infrastructure and see if repairs need to be done as Syria's pipeline and electricity lines were damaged in the decade of civil war.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called Thursday on supporting the Lebanese army amid an American and domestic campaign against it.

"We should reward the army, its command, soldiers and officers, not question and target their sacred national role against the Israeli aggression and incite against them," Berri said, adding that Israel "has been and still is an obstacle between the Lebanese people and their real, complete independence."

Israeli defense officials assess that Hamas is closely coordinating with Hezbollah and Iran to revive and rebuild the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” as the Israeli army expands strikes in Gaza and southern Lebanon, Israeli officials said on Thursday, according to a Jerusalem Post report.

The officials said that U.S. pressure is, for now, restraining a fiercer Israeli response to “Hezbollah’s ceasefire violations.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has reiterated that Lebanon is ready to engage in talks with Israel, adding that he will seek U.S. help in pushing for negotiations.

The prime minister added, in an interview with Bloomberg, that plans to demilitarize the south are "on track" and that the Lebanese Army is expanding its presence there, particularly in areas near the border with Israel.