President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday warned that “there are attempts to politicize and exaggerate the economic situation for political ends.”

There is “talk about a rise in the U.S. dollar exchange rate and crises similar to what occurred in 2019 -- all aimed at creating confusion and marginalizing efforts to revive Lebanon, which is something that cannot be allowed," Aoun added.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has called for the immediate disarmament of Hezbollah, rejecting that the government is acting under international pressure.

"Many people think that the Lebanese government has to dismantle Hezbollah because the U.S., the Arabs, and Israel are asking for it," Geagea said Tuesday. "This is false. Dismantling Hezbollah is a Lebanese necessity and a priority for the Lebanese population before anyone else."

The October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel “shook the world and served as a reminder of the Palestinian cause,” Hezbollah said Wednesday in a statement marking three years since the operation, describing the action as “courageous, qualitative, natural, justified, and a legitimate act of resistance given the scale of injustice.”

Israeli artillery shelled overnight into Wednesday the southern villages of Wadi Zebqine, Kfartebnit, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and Arnoun, while strikes targeted Wadi Slouqi.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said its forces have struck 28,000 targets in Lebanon and Syria, since October 7, 2023.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that its forces have struck nearly 100,000 targets across the region, including 28,000 in Lebanon and Syria, since October 7, 2023.

According to the report, 20,000 rocket launches have been fired toward Israeli territory from Lebanon over the same period.

Minister of Energy and Water Joe Saddi on Wednesday informed President Joseph Aoun of the reasons that led him to announce his boycott of Cabinet sessions.

During the meeting at the Baabda Palace, Saddi emphasized "his commitment to continue assuming his ministerial responsibilities," expressing his hope that these reasons will be addressed.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Wednesday that the Taif Agreement “focused on the importance of extending state authority over all of its territory using its own inherent forces,” stressing that this is “the baseline without which no true state can emerge.”

“Taif did not separate political reform from the restoration of state authority, the dissolution of militias, and the restriction of legitimate force exclusively to state institutions," said Salam at a ceremony marking the centenary of the Lebanese constitution.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem announced Tuesday that "Israel will not be able to remain in southern Lebanon," stressing that Israeli withdrawal is the only "solution."

"The liberation of southern Lebanon is before our very eyes, and Israel will not be able to remain in southern Lebanon, even if it takes time," said Qassem in a televised address.

Energy Minister Joe Saddi, who was named by the Lebanese Forces, announced Tuesday his boycott of cabinet sessions until the government takes the “needed decisions” in the thorny electricity file.

British soldiers from the Support Company of the 4th Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS), based at Dhekelia Garrison Cyprus, have arrived in Lebanon to join their Lebanese counterparts in the Air Assault Regiment in a landmark military exercise aimed at strengthening bilateral defense ties and enhancing operational readiness, the British embassy said on Monday.