President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that he would always choose the state and that Lebanon will not pull out of negotiations with Israel despite pressure.

"Our choice remains the State, as it protects us all, and we must be convinced that we are a sovereign nation," Aoun said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Youssef Rajji said Hezbollah is a military organization and there is no difference between its political and its military wings.

In an interview with the French news channel LCI, Rajji said that "distinguishing between the political and military wings of Hezbollah is completely unrealistic."

Israel early Thursday warned residents in the north to seek shelter after the detection of suspected incoming fire from Lebanon, as the army struck several towns and villages in south Lebanon.

Israeli strikes and shelling targeted Kfarshouba, Taraya, Deir Kifa, Majdalzoun, al-Mansouri, al-Qatrani, Shehabiyeh, Qalaway, Kherbet Selem, Srifa and Nabatiyeh.

President Joseph Aoun stressed Wednesday that "it is impossible to live outside the framework of the state, as experience has proven," warning that "anything else is a sin" against the country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Wednesday that Israel's attacks on Syria and Lebanon have started to represent a threat to Turkey.

Israeli strikes targeted Wednesday the southern city of Tyre and other towns and villages in south Lebanon including Tayrdebba, Nsariyeh, al-Majadel, Srifa, Bazourieh, Deir Qanoun, Kfar Remman, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Kfardounine, Ghassaniyeh and Bnaafoul.

The Israeli army targeted a car in Dweir and issued evacuation orders for Ghassaniyeh, Houmine al-Fawqa, and Nsariyeh.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa revealed Tuesday that Washington will present a written paper to Speaker Nabih Berri regarding the so-called pilot zones in south Lebanon, where the Lebanese Army would take control from Israel's occupying forces.

"He told me that he would then accept the pilot zones," Issa said in an interview with MTV.

Let Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem "tell me what he wants. Does he want to fight? Let him go and fight; we've seen the results," President Joseph Aoun has said, according to his visitors.

In remarks to the al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, the visitors said Aoun dismissed reports of contacts between U.S. President Donald Trump and Hezbollah.

The Israeli army on Tuesday said its forces killed a gunman who had managed to infiltrate Israeli territory from Lebanon and opened fire on its troops.

The Israeli army's withdrawal from south Lebanon would enable the Lebanese state to "extend its authority, end armed appearances and eliminate any justification for the persistence of weapons other than those of legitimate authorities and their armed forces," President Joseph Aoun said on Tuesday.