The explosives truck seized in Dahr al-Baidar was not the only one that passed through that area, diplomats quoted a report received by a foreign embassy in Beirut as saying.

According to the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, the report estimated that seven trucks passed along that road from the Bekaa to Beirut, and that the two individuals in the truck were not the only ones tasked with such a mission, with investigations focusing on identifying other involved individuals.

An Israeli strike targeted Friday the Ali al-Taher ridge while artillery shelled the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh in southern Lebanon.

Forces set forests ablaze in al-Qantara on Friday and carried out detonations in al-Khiam overnight.

There is “no U.S.-Turkey proposal concerning Lebanon,” nor are there “any U.S.-backed proposals to change the structure of Lebanese politics established by the Taif Accords,” U.S. State Department Spokesman Tommy Pigott has said, in response to a media report in this regard.

“The United States remains fully committed to working with Lebanon and Israel on the Trilateral Framework to end the cycle of conflict once and for all by implementing its key pillars:

Cabinet decided Thursday in a session at the presidential palace to postpone referring Hezbollah's explosives case to the Judicial Council until investigations are concluded, prompting Lebanese Forces ministers to walk out of the session in protest.

Local media reported on Thursday and Friday that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had advised Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and President Joseph Aoun against referring the case to the Judicial Council — the country’s highest criminal court for national security issues — to avoid a confrontation with Hezbollah.

The Tampa meetings between Lebanon and Israel, the results of which were described as "very bad," along with the conclusions of the investigation into the Hezbollah explosives truck, “will place Lebanon before a political and security escalation,” diplomatic sources said.

“The American side informed the Lebanese side in Tampa that the end of the year will mark the termination of the operations of all international forces in Lebanon. Consequently, no one will remain in the South except the Lebanese Army and the Israeli army,” the sources told Al-Jadeed television.

If Cabinet goes all the way in the probe into Hezbollah’s explosives shipment and judicial warrants are issued against Hezbollah officials, the party “will not remain silent,” sources close to Hezbollah said.

“Its rejection could escalate into movements on the ground,” the sources told Al-Jadeed television.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea voiced his support for President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and called for immediate judicial action regarding Hezbollah's confiscated explosives, in an interview on Thursday night on MTV’s Sar El Waqt.

"The Lebanese Forces considers itself in the same boat as President General Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam until further notice," Geagea told host Marcel Ghanem, adding that the explosives case "must be referred without delay to the Judicial Council, as it directly threatens national security, civil peace and state authority."

Kiryat Shmona has long been a bastion of support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. But that loyalty is no longer ironclad.

Once a bustling commercial center, Israel's northernmost city was temporarily evacuated three years ago after being battered by rockets from nearby Lebanon, and it still feels half-empty even though the attacks have mostly subsided. Although the town remains staunchly conservative, there are rumblings of displeasure with Netanyahu's handling of the latest war against Hezbollah, and that could bode poorly for him in Israel's election Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he would inform U.S. President Donald Trump of what Israel intends to do, but will not ask him for a green light to strike Iran.

Netanyahu added that he had issued a directive stating that "the only acceptable solution is the overthrow of the fanatical regime in Iran."

Speaker Nabih Berri has relayed recent warnings from foreign visitors to Hezbollah, urging the Iran-backed party to refrain from military involvement in the event of a new war on Tehran, a source directly involved in the U.S.-sponsored Lebanese–Israeli negotiations said.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani for his part met behind closed doors with MP Mohammad Raad of Hezbollah during his latest visit to Lebanon, and the lawmaker expressed Hezbollah’s “openness and flexibility,” noting that the group does not intend to resort to escalation, the source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.