Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted visiting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday with blistering criticism of the international body's treatment of Israel and accusing it of failing to prevent arms from being smuggled to Lebanon's Hizbullah.

The remains of eight Lebanese soldiers kidnapped by the Islamic State group three years ago were located Sunday, a senior Lebanese official said, in a negotiated deal that followed a military offensive to drive the militants out of the border area with Syria.

Major General Abbas Ibrahim, the chief of Lebanese General Security, said seven bodies buried in Lebanon near the border with Syria were removed while the body of slain soldier Abbas Medlej was yet to be located. He said the fate of a ninth soldier remained unknown amid reports that he had defected to the Islamic State group.

Lebanese security forces on Sunday found six bodies “likely” belonging to Lebanese troops abducted by the Islamic State group in 2014, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim announced.

The United States has blasted the commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, accusing him of turning a blind eye to Hizbullah weapons smuggling.

The battle against the Islamic State group in an area along the Lebanon-Syria will end within hours, a Syrian army officer has said, as the extremists faced news setbacks in the two neighboring countries.

The head of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon is pushing back after U.S. and Israeli criticism of the mission, saying that his force has no evidence that weapons are being illegally transferred and stockpiled in the Hizbullah-dominated south.

The Lebanese army announced Tuesday that it has launched the third phase of a broad offensive to capture areas controlled by the terrorist Islamic State group on the border with Syria.

Millions of Americans gazed in wonder through telescopes, cameras and disposable protective glasses Monday as the moon blotted out the sun in the first full-blown solar eclipse to sweep the U.S. from coast to coast in nearly a century.

The Lebanese army announced Saturday the start of an offensive against the Islamic State (IS) group close to the Syrian border in the east of the country, where jihadists have been operating for several years.

"In the name of Lebanon, in the name of kidnapped Lebanese soldiers, in the name of martyrs of the army, I announce that operation 'Dawn of Outskirts' has started," army chief General Joseph Aoun said, referring to the mountainous outskirts of Arsal border region.

Lebanon threw its support Saturday behind its army after it launched an offensive to eliminate Islamic State jihadists that have been operating for several years in an area close to the Syrian border in the east of the country.

Lebanese nationals and politicians took to social media in a show of support for the army's mission.