Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors are due to hold direct talks in Rome this month, Italy's foreign ministry said Tuesday, after several rounds of discussions in Washington aimed at de-escalation.

"We welcome with pleasure the announcement that the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon mediated by the U.S. will take place in Rome," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jean Arnault, began Tuesday an official visit to Israel, his office said.

He is scheduled to meet with senior Israeli officials for discussions on “the importance of consolidating the cessation of hostilities and the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006),” the office said in a statement.

The next round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will be held next week in Rome, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said.

The talks will take place on July 14 and 15, Leiter said Monday in an interview, adding that President Joseph Aoun will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on July 21.

The Israeli army shelled Monday evening into Tuesday several southern border towns including Houla, Deir Seryan, Touline, Qabrikha and al-Qantara.

Forces also detonated houses in Haddatha, Beit Yahoun, and al-Qantaa.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday praised the statements issued by the heads of municipal councils and religious leaders in southern border villages and towns, particularly the Christian ones in the districts of Marjeyoun and Bint Jbeil.

He specifically mentioned the statement issued by the municipality of Rmeish, which "rejected, denied, and refuted the false claims made by the Israeli Prime Minister regarding the desire of the residents of these villages to be annexed to the occupying Israeli entity."

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday addressed Druze chieftain Walid Jumblat by saying that “history does not move backward,” in an ongoing spat between the two leaders over the 1949 Armistice Agreement with Israel.

“There is no doubt that the Armistice Agreement was indeed the basis between the State of Lebanon and Israel. But, unfortunately, we allowed it to collapse, and we trampled it underfoot, from 1964 until today, making it seem as if it no longer exists,” Geagea wrote on X.

MP Hassan Fadlallah of Hezbollah on Monday lauded the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Nabil Fahmy, for his stance against Israel’s demolition of a residential neighborhood in the southern town of Bint Jbeil.

“Meanwhile, the Lebanese authorities maintain a suspicious silence, after having granted the occupation legitimacy for its continued presence and aggressive practices, and preventing its legal prosecution through their ill-fated agreement," Fadlallah said.

President Joseph Aoun said Monday that Israel's occupation of the south was preventing the Lebanese army's deployment to the area, as the two sides prepare to implement a deal involving the deployment and gradual Israeli withdrawal.

According to a statement from his office, Aoun emphasized the need to pressure Israel to withdraw its forces "because the persistence of the occupation undermines the legitimacy of the (Lebanese) state and prevents the army from deploying and the laying of the foundations for achieving a just and lasting peace".

An Israeli strike on a car in the country's south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when "an Israeli drone targeted the car" they were travelling in as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, visited troops stationed near Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon on Sunday, vowing that the army would "continue to operate decisively to remove threats from Lebanese territory".

Israeli forces have continued to clash with Hezbollah fighters despite a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon intended to pave the way toward a lasting end to hostilities.