The Israeli army claimed overnight that the Iranian Quds Force and Hezbollah have been exploiting civilian flights landing at Beirut airport over the past few weeks in an alleged attempt to “smuggle funds aimed at arming Hezbollah with the objective of carrying out attacks against the State of Israel.”

President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that Israel must withdraw all its forces from Lebanon by next week’s deadline.

In a statement, Aoun denied media reports of another extension to the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. The U.S.- and French-brokered truce, reached in late November, gave Israel 60 days to withdraw while Hezbollah repositioned north of the Litani River.

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber on Wednesday thanked Speaker Nabih Berri for backing his nomination to the post and President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam for their “confidence.”

U.S. deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus is due to visit Beirut this week, local media reports said, in her second visit to Lebanon since her appointment.

The visit will focus on Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon on Feb. 18, al-Joumhouria newspaper said Wednesday.

The Free Patriotic Movement responded Wednesday to remarks voiced overnight by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam regarding the negotiations that resulted in the exclusion of the FPM from the new government.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has announced that the FPM will practice “positive opposition” in the face of the new government, noting that it will follow up on a number of files it had “struggled” for.

Israel asked the Trump administration on Monday for another extension to the deadline for the Israeli army withdrawal from southern Lebanon, but won’t get it, a U.S. official told The Times of Israel.

The ceasefire monitoring committee has been informed that the Israeli army is asking to stay in some points in south Lebanon until February 28, LBCI TV reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said overnight that the state must be in control of all Lebanese territory, in a televised interview days before a deadline to implement the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement.

Salam's government, which was officially formed on Saturday after more than two years of caretaker leadership, faces the daunting task of overseeing the fragile ceasefire and rebuilding a war-scarred country.

With the already extended deadline for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon fast approaching, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly asked U.S. President Donald Trump to support a further extension of the Israeli army’s deployment there.