Israeli warplanes on Monday waged two waves of airstrikes on the heights of Jabal al-Rafih, al-Jarmaq, al-Wadi al-Akhdar and al-Mahmoudiyeh in south Lebanon.

Simultaneously, Israeli warplanes bombed the outskirts of al-Nabi Sheet and the al-Shaara area in the Baalbek district near Syria’s border. A drone strike meanwhile hit a pickup truck in the nearby Hermel region, causing no casualties.

Israel will gradually withdraw from south Lebanon if the Lebanese Army disarms Hezbollah and efforts are ongoing to eliminate any threat from Hezbollah, an Israeli official said on Monday.

“We will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its strength again,” the official told Al-Arabiya television.

Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad may return to Beirut soon to hold further consultations and contacts aimed at backing the “non-escalation course,” Egyptian sources said.

“Egypt is engaged in direct contacts with France and the U.S. over the situation in Lebanon, and the efforts of the past days led to a host of remarks and proposals related to the Egyptian initiative and the possibility of introducing amendments to it,” the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper.

Israel is pressing the Lebanese army to search private homes in south Lebanon for weapons, a media report said, after Lebanon's government tasked the army with a plan to disarm Hezbollah.

The report, quoting Lebanese and Israeli officials, said Israel requested these house-to-house raids in October during meetings of the ceasefire monitoring committee, adding that Lebanon has not accepted to do so.

President Joseph Aoun announced Monday that the Lebanese Army “has a crucial mission in these circumstances.”

“It alone -- I reiterate, it alone, without a partner, neither from outside the state nor from outside Lebanon -- has to extend our state’s authority over all its territory and borders and to impose its full sovereignty, for the Israeli attacks on our land to cease and for Israel to withdraw from the points it is occupying inside Lebanon,” Aoun added, at a joint press conference with his Bulgarian counterpart in Sofia.

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel said Monday that he had submitted a proposal to introduce Lebanon's neutrality into the Lebanese constitution.

In a press conference, Gemayel said that Lebanon has an opportunity today to "turn the page", adding that neutrality does not mean not taking positions on issues of justice in the world but it means that Lebanon would not militarily participate in any regional conflicts.

Senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka described Monday President Joseph Aoun as a "friend" who will help realize U.S. President Donald Trump's vision for peace in the Middle East.

"Today this leader is a friend and is positioned to help realize President Donald Trump's vision for peace in the Middle East under a new, broader Abraham Accords," Gorka posted on X.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Monday with a U.S. treasury delegation in Beirut, headed by senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka, as Washington works to cut off Hezbollah's funding and Lebanon's government tries to disarm it.

Deputy director for counter-terrorism John Hurley had said after the delegation met President Joseph Aoun on Sunday that Lebanon can only be free, prosperous and secure if Hezbollah is fully disarmed and cut off from Iran's funding and control.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said his government is not just working on disarming Hezbollah but is also working on reforms, yet disarmament is needed to attract investments.

In a televised interview aired on Sunday evening, Salam said the government is also unanimously committed to the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, ending the Israeli occupation and daily attacks, and releasing the Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails.

President Joseph Aoun has told U.S. officials that Lebanon was tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism, days after Washington imposed sanctions on three Hezbollah members.

The trio were accused of money laundering to fund Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and other Western powers.