Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday stated that “just as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always stood by Lebanon during every crisis it has faced, it is our duty, as Lebanese people, to stand united with the Kingdom as it faces heinous and bloody attacks."

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeted oil facilities in south Saudi Arabia in recent days, wounding dozens, as deadly fighting and Saudi airstrikes renewed in Yemen after a Houthi offensive towards the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab chokepoint.

Retired military personnel on Wednesday staged protests at the Riad Al-Solh Square, near the entrance to Parliament, and in other locations in the country to reject the 2027 draft state budget, which failed to include any adjustment to ranks and salaries.

They criticized authorities for overlooking their demands, accusing them of being indifferent to the hardships they face in meeting their living expenses.

Joint Saudi-American diplomatic efforts over the past 24 hours have succeeded in de-escalating tensions in southern Lebanon following direct U.S. engagement with Israel, local media reported.

U.S. sources told al-Jadeed that meetings between American and Saudi officials focused on the Lebanese file, with Riyadh backing the Lebanese government's demands to secure a permanent solution.

Israeli artillery shelled overnight into Wednesday the southern towns of Kfar Remman, al-Mansouri, Mays al-Jabal and Qabrikha, while strikes targeted Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfartebnit.

Israeli forces carried out detonations in al-Mansouri as relative calm seemed to return to southern Lebanon, following a three-day escalation that killed 27 people and wounded 69 others in the Nabatieh region.

Israeli artillery shelled overnight into Tuesday Wadi al-Slouqi and Wadi al-Hujair, while forces opened fire at forests near Qabrikha and detonated houses in al-Mansouri.

On Monday 13 people, including women and children, were killed in strikes on the south.

President Joseph Aoun has condemned Israel's "repeated attacks" on Lebanon, accusing it of violating the U.S.-brokered framework deal.

"When both sides sign an agreement, they are expected to honor it," he said. "Unfortunately, while Lebanon remains committed to the agreement and insists on its implementation, Israel continues to offer unacceptable excuses to justify its aggression. Flimsy pretexts are being used to defend these ongoing strikes."

The U.S. wants “the interest of the Shiite community and the return of residents to the South and their homes,” U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said on Tuesday after a visit to the Higher Islamic Shiite Council and a meeting with its head Sheikh Ali al-Khatib.

Speaking in Arabic, Issa added that Washington is willing to negotiate with Hezbollah “through the state,” adding that “the state is the side that works for the sake of Lebanon.”

The house of MP Melhem al-Hujeiri, a member of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc, came under gunfire at dawn in the northeastern town of Arsal, media reports said.

The Israeli army said Monday that two of its soldiers were lightly wounded in a face-to-face clash with a Hezbollah fighter during search operations in the al-Shakif area of south Lebanon.

“A Hezbollah terrorist inside a building opened fire on the forces” and “the forces immediately returned fire, killing the terrorist,” the Israeli army said.

There’s only one month left to apply for the UK Government’s flagship Chevening Scholarships program for the scholastic year 27-28.