President Joseph Aoun met Thursday with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and thanked him for his efforts to support Lebanon in resisting Israeli aggression and securing the liberation of its territory.

Aoun urged the Pope to compel Israel to commit to the U.S.-brokered Framework Agreement, halt its daily strikes, and withdraw from the territories its forces are occupying in south Lebanon.

An Emirati delegation comprising approximately 70 businessmen will visit Lebanon on August 26 and 27 to sign agreements with the private sector in Lebanon, LBCI television has reported.

The delegation will also propose providing and developing services at the airport, ports, and border crossings.

Hezbollah proposed earlier this week to hand over the strategic Ali al-Taher area to the Lebanese Army, amid “the decline of its ability to hold onto it and its attempt to withdraw the fighters and equipment that are present there,” an informed Western diplomatic source said.

Syria's interior ministry said authorities took custody of a former general under deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad who was extradited from Lebanon on Wednesday and is accused of crimes including murder and torture.

"Today, Syrian authorities received from the Lebanese authorities the former officer in the defunct regime army, major general Adel Issa," a ministry statement said, after Syria issued an arrest warrant in absentia for him.

A Canadian government official condemned what he called Israel's "unlawful invasion" of Lebanon, saying Beirut should govern its own space and have sovereignty over its lands.

Randeep Sarai, Canada's secretary of state for international development, visited Lebanon to announce new humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit country, where the U.N. says some 360,000 people remain displaced as a result of the latest conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Israeli informed U.S. General Joseph Clearfield of its rejection of any agreement on a new pilot zone in south Lebanon, Lebanese sources involved in the deliberations said.

Speaker Nabih Berri noted Wednesday that "what the South is experiencing is intolerable and may even surpass the crimes and massacres perpetrated in Gaza.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil has called for a public parliamentary session to question the government regarding the war, Hezbollah's weapons, and the U.S.-sponsored framework agreement with Israel.

Bassil urged Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to schedule a public session to question the government and demanded transparency regarding the framework agreement.

President Joseph Aoun has received an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to participate in a preparatory meeting for an international conference to support the Lebanese Army.

The meeting will be held in Paris on September 17 with the participation of military delegations and experts from several countries.

The Israeli army struck and shelled overnight into Wednesday al-Khiam, Mays al-Jabal, the Ali al-Taher hill, the outskirts of Wadi Zebqine and a house in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

Israeli forces also carried detonations in Hadatha, al-Khiam and al-Mansouri.