Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab met Wednesday at the Baabda Palace with President Joseph Aoun.

“We discussed the parliamentary (elections) juncture and the current hurdles that are in its way, seeing as bickering and provocation cannot lead to parliamentary elections,” Bou Saab said after the meeting.

President Joseph Aoun announced Wednesday that he has resorted to negotiations with Israel in order to “consolidate security and stability, especially in the South,” stressing that “negotiation does not mean surrender.”

“We are counting on the stances taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and his interest in the issue of peace, and we’re doing our part in this regard,” Aoun added, in a meeting with a delegation from the World Lebanese Cultural Union.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Wednesday called on all MPs to boycott Thursday’s legislative session, while accusing Speaker Nabih Berri of “blackmailing the North’s MPs over the Qoleiat airport clause.”

Geagea also urged voters “who want expats to vote for the 128 seats at their places of residence abroad to pressure the MPs whom they voted for to boycott the session.”

Two Hezbollah members were killed Tuesday in two Israeli drone strikes in south Lebanon and the Chouf district, the Israeli army said.

In the Chouf district town of Sibline, near Sidon, around 40 kilometers from the nearest border with Israel, a pickup truck was targeted, resulting in the death of one person and the wounding of several others, Lebanese media reports said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. envoy Tom Barack discussed in their meeting on Monday a framework to “continue civil dialogue with Lebanon, with expectations that it will soon expand to additional areas,” diplomatic sources told the Israel Hayom newspaper.

Two weeks ago, a first meeting took place between Israeli and Lebanese civilian representatives, laying the groundwork for ongoing talks concerning both “preventing Hezbollah's re-armament and issues related to the border line and IDF (Israeli army) activity in Lebanese territory,” Israel Hayom said.

An Israeli force made a 600-meter incursion Tuesday into the southern border town of Dhayra, planting booby-trapped empty ammunition boxes in the al-Sari neighborhood, the state-run National News Agency said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Tuesday Speaker Nabih Berri of bypassing 65 MPs who demanded to amend the electoral law in order to allow expats to vote for all 128 seats.

"Berri's call for a legislative session next Thursday is a bypass and a slight against the opinion of the 65 MPs who boycotted it."

U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced new remarks about Hezbollah and the situation in the Middle East.

Over the past weeks, the U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah and canceled a planned trip to Washington last month by Army chief Gen. Rodolph Haykal.

U.S. officials were angered in November by a Lebanese army statement that blamed Israel for destabilizing Lebanon and blocking the Lebanese military deployment in south Lebanon.

The European Union and Lebanon held Monday in Brussels the ninth meeting of the EU–Lebanon Association Council. The two sides reviewed the state of EU–Lebanon relations and reaffirmed their shared commitment to enhancing the bilateral partnership within the framework of the Association Agreement and partnership priorities.

The EU reaffirmed its support to the reforms initiated by President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and the new Lebanese government and reiterated its ongoing commitment to support Lebanon’s democratic institutions.