Major General Diodato Abagnara of Italy assumed Tuesday command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), taking over from Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro of Spain, during a special ceremony held at the Mission’s headquarters in Naqoura, south Lebanon.

In his address, Abagnara stressed the importance of achieving a lasting stability along the Blue Line while recognizing "real challenges" ahead.

President Joseph Aoun and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea met Tuesday in Baabda and discussed the latest developments in the region and in Lebanon.

"I think that we'll reach a serious U.S.-Iranian understanding that is compatible with our vision and with Lebanon's higher interests," Geagea said after the meeting, as he urged for setting a timeframe for Hezbollah's disarmament.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Tuesday in Doha with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

“We’re working on extending the state’s authority across its territory … and there can be no stability in Lebanon without Israel’s full withdrawal, especially from the five points it is still occupying,” Salam said at a joint press conference.

The health ministry said an Israeli strike killed three people Tuesday in the country’s south, the latest such raid despite a November ceasefire.

"The strike launched by an Israeli enemy drone on a vehicle" in the Nabatieh district town of Kfar Dajjal "resulted in the death of three people", the ministry said in a statement carried by the official National News Agency.

Israel carried out airstrikes in parts of south Lebanon, including in Iqlim al-Tuffah.

Monday’s airstrikes were more intense than the usual near-daily ones that Israel has carried out since a ceasefire ended its 14-month war with Hezbollah in November.

Turkish airline Pegasus has scrapped flights to Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon until June 30, and Iran until July 30, as global airlines suspended or reduced flights in the Middle East amid the Israel-Iran conflict.

Flights of Air France's low-cost carrier Transavia from Paris to Beirut have also been suspended until June 30 while the Tel Aviv route is closed until September 7.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem warned in an interview published Monday that “the attack on Iran will have hefty prices because the entire region is in danger.”

The statement issued Sunday morning by President Joseph Aoun was followed by “a series of domestic and foreign contacts, especially with the Americans, that focused on keeping Lebanon away from war and abiding by neutrality,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Monday.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reconfirmed Monday that Hezbollah will certainly not join the Israel-Iran war as local media reports said that Amal, Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have been discussing, away from the spotlight, the need to keep Lebanon out of the conflict.

Sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in reports published Monday, that Hezbollah will not join the fray and "give Israel pretexts" to drag Lebanon into a new war.

The U.S. administration has asked Lebanon to reach “presidential consensus” on the decision of monopolizing arms between President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Nawaf Salam ahead of referring such a decision to Cabinet for formal approval, Al-Jadeed TV has reported.