Lebanon's leaders accused Israel of a "flagrant" ceasefire violation by launching strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday ahead of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

President Joseph Aoun in a statement voiced "firm condemnation of the Israeli aggression" and called the strikes a "blatant violation of an international agreement, as well as the basic principles of international and humanitarian laws and resolutions, on the eve of a sacred religious occasion". He said it demonstrates Israel's "rejection of the requirements of stability, settlement and just peace in our region."

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that the Lebanese army had dismantled "more than 500 military positions and arms depots" belonging to Hezbollah in the south of the country.

"The state continues its action... to restore its authority over the entire national territory... and to have a monopoly on arms," Salam said in a televised address. The effort follows a ceasefire agreement between the militant group and Israel which ended a war between them last November.

A Lebanese army official said that the army had attempted to convince Israel not to carry out strikes on several sites in Beirut’s southern suburbs Thursday, on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The official said the army asked Israel to let Lebanese officials go in to search the area under the mechanism laid out in the ceasefire agreement, but that the Israeli army refused, so Lebanese soldiers moved away from the locations.

The Israeli military struck several sites in Beirut's southern suburbs that it said held underground facilities used by Hezbollah for drone production Thursday, on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The strikes marked the first time in more than a month that Israel had struck on the outskirts of the capital and the fourth time since a US-brokered ceasefire agreement ended the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in November.

The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for parts of Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday, telling residents they were in the vicinity of buildings associated with Hezbollah.

Security forces in the Syrian border city of Qusayr have foiled an attempt to smuggle an arms shipment into Lebanon, the Syrian interior ministry said.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that Israel's discontent about the replacement of U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus is "pleasing to the heart."

In remarks published Thurday in local al-Joumhouria newspaper, Berri said that the Israeli discontent is more than enough reason for him to be pleased by the replacement of Morgan Ortagus.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that his visit to Lebanon was not only aimed at signing his new book but was also part of Iran’s policy of “enhancing ties with the new Lebanese government.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Lebanon was aimed at saying that “Tehran is still present in Lebanon,” a source close to Hezbollah told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel.

The commander of the Israeli army’s northern front has warned against any attack from Lebanon, following the recent rocket attack from Syria that targeted the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.