The Israeli army on Friday claimed that it has managed to confirm that Hezbollah’s so-called Unit 121 was behind the 2023 “assassination” of Lebanese Forces official Elias Hasrouni in south Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district.

“This comes contrary to the rumors spread by Hezbollah, which claimed that he was killed in a traffic accident. Hasrouni, aged 70 when he was assassinated, was known for his stance that fiercely opposes Hezbollah,” Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari on Friday said that “Lebanon is a message” and that “it is not a minor thing that Pope Leo’s first foreign visit will be to it.”

“Lebanon will witness great prosperity and I don’t see pessimism,” Bukhari added, during a visit to the headquarters of the Press Editors Syndicate.

French President's advisor Anne-Claire Legendre has reiterated during a visit to Lebanon her country's readiness to provide all the necessary maps and documents to facilitate the border demarcation between Lebanon and Syria, Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said.

Meanwhile al-Jadeed TV reported that a Lebanese-Syrian meeting on the demarcation between the two countries will be held in December, under the auspices of the United Nations.

UNIFIL said Friday that its troops conducted last month a geospatial survey of a concrete T-wall erected by the Israeli army southwest of the Lebanese border town of Yaroun.

“The survey confirmed that the wall crossed the Blue Line, rendering more than 4,000 square meters of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the Lebanese people,” UNIFIL said in a statement.

The situations in the South “will change with the presence of the army,” whose strength “stems from its legitimacy and people’s embracement and firm confidence,” President Joseph Aoun said on Friday.

“The order for the army to confront any Israeli land incursion was aimed at sending a message to everyone that the army has become in charge of decisions in the South and is tasked with protecting it,” the president added.

French President's advisor Anne-Claire Legendre met Friday with Hezbollah's head of Arab and International Relations Ammar al-Moussawi, al-Manar TV said.

Legendre and al-Moussawi discussed Israel's violations of a ceasefire agreement reached in November last year, with al-Moussawi urging France to pressure Israel to halt its attacks.

As Lebanon prepares for its 2026 Parliamentary elections, a debate over the voting law drags on with many MPs forming a parliamentary majority pushing for amending the law to allow a large Lebanese diaspora to vote for the 128 seats.

Earlier this month, cabinet approved to send an urgent draft law demanding the amendment to Parliament, after Speaker Nabih Berri refused to discuss it in a legislative session, prompting the LF and Kataeb MPs to boycott it.

MENA adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, Anne-Claire Legendre, has reaffirmed during her visit to Lebanon France's commitment to hold a conference in support of the Lebanese army in Riyadh.

Legendre said France and Saudi Arabia are discussing Lebanon's progress in implementing the government's plan to disarm Hezbollah.

Former PSP leader Walid Jumblat criticized a proposition by Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel to introduce Lebanon's neutrality into the Lebanese constitution.

"Before we amend the constitution, hold on, will Israel withdraw from the occupied (Lebanese) territories?" Jumblat asked Thursday on the X platform.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has lamented that the Lebanese government has shown “no perseverance” and “no determination” to disarm Hezbollah.

“There is no determination. There is no clearness, there is no perseverance. From time to time, there are some declarations, and everybody knows that these declarations are like empty declarations,” Geagea said in English in an interview with the UAE’s The National newspaper.