The Hezbollah members fighting in the area south of the Litani River are the sons of the area's villages and towns, supported by fighters from the Bekaa Valley and other regions, including foreigners, a media report said.

Lebanon received negative intelligence from Egypt indicating that the Israeli war is likely to be protracted, given the absence of any decisive signs of an imminent ceasefire, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.

In the past hours an Egyptian security delegation arrived in Beirut following a directive from the Egyptian leadership to initiate engagement with Lebanese authorities aimed at reducing tensions on the Lebanese scene and finding solutions, An-Nahar newspaper said.

The Saudi Embassy in Beirut said in a statement Friday that the decision is related to the “repercussions of the current events” taking place in Lebanon.

The embassy added that Saudi Arabia’s travel ban to Lebanon has been in place for years.

In a letter Friday to the Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, mothers of soldiers called for an end to the further ground offensive into Lebanon.

The group, Parents of Combat Soldiers, includes 600 military parents. The letter said the military was receiving orders from politicians who are ready to “sacrifice” its children, and urged Zamir to focus on a political solution. “Four soldiers have already been killed in Lebanon, how many more will sacrifice their lives in vain?!” said the letter.

The Israeli army shelled Friday al-Naqoura, al-Bayyada and Shamaa in south Lebanon with white phosphorus bombs after Hezbollah claimed attacks against troops trying to advance there.

The troops were advancing from Deir al-Seryan toward Al-Qussair, media reports said, while Hezbollah claimed attacks on troops and tanks in Naqoura, Qantara, Deir al-Seryan, al-Taybeh, Khiam, al-Bayyada, al-Qawzah, Beit Leef and Debel.

The Israeli military said on Thursday it requires additional troops for deployment in southern Lebanon, where forces are engaged in fighting Hezbollah as part of efforts to establish a buffer zone.

"On the Lebanese front, the forward defensive zone that we are creating requires additional IDF forces," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing, noting that the military is operating simultaneously across multiple fronts, including the West Bank, Gaza and Syria.

An Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Friday, killing two people, according to the health ministry.

AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing from the area after the raid.

Hezbollah on Thursday again denied it had any presence in Kuwait, a day after the Gulf country announced more arrests of people allegedly linked to the Iran-backed group.

"For the third time, Hezbollah reiterates its complete denial of the accusations" made by Kuwait's interior ministry, the group said in a statement.

The Israeli army announced the death in combat on Thursday of a soldier in south Lebanon, just hours after reporting another death from its ranks.