The ceasefire monitoring committee, known as the Mechanism, held a “positive” meeting on Wednesday in Naqoura, MTV said, in talks that for the first time witnessed the participation of Lebanese and Israeli civilian figures.

The TV network added that the meeting witnessed the usual arrangements and that the Lebanese representatives left with the impression that the Lebanese Army would be given a chance to carry out its work and that today’s meeting would be capitalized on.

In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Pope Leo XIV said he had read a letter from Hezbollah but that he prefers not to comment on it, adding that the Church proposes that Hezbollah disarm and seek dialogue instead.

The pope said that peaceful solutions would be more productive and better for the Lebanese people, and vowed to keep on working to convince parties in Lebanon to disarm and choose dialogue instead of violence.

U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus had suggested to Israeli officials that Israel bomb the funeral of slain Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that was held in Beirut on February 23, Israeli media reports said.

Ortagus raised the issue of attacking the funeral under the pretext of “targeting Hezbollah leaders,” Tamir Morag, the political correspondent of Israel’s Channel 14, said.

Israeli media have reported that Israel is preparing for a "significant escalation" with Hezbollah, deemed "inevitable" despite Washington's efforts.

Reports claimed that Israel showed U.S Envoy Morgan Ortagus Tuesday "intelligence that proves Hezbollah is rebuilding and rearming" in south Lebanon and that the Lebanese Armed Forces are either unable or unwilling to stop that.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced Wednesday that Lebanon is “ready for supra-military negotiations with Israel,” after Lebanon and Israel for the first time sent civilian figures to a meeting of the ‘Mechanism’ ceasefire committee.

“The move to include a former Lebanese diplomat on the committee is politically sound and enjoys national support,” Salam said in remarks to Al-Jazeera television.

Syrian authorities said on Wednesday they had killed a man and arrested four others who were attempting to smuggle hundreds of landmines to Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.

In a statement, the interior ministry said it launched a raid in al-Jebbe, near the capital Damascus, during which "four people were arrested and a fifth neutralized after a clash".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a non-military member in Israel's delegation to the body overseeing the ceasefire with Israel.

Netanyahu's office said Wednesday that the PM has instructed the Acting Director of the National Security Council to send a representative on his behalf to a meeting with government-economic elements in Lebanon.

Lebanon announced on Wednesday that it would appoint a civilian to lead its delegation to the body overseeing the ceasefire with Israel, after a request from the United States.

Until now Lebanon, which does not recognize Israel, had insisted on keeping a military officer in the role.

Pope Leo XIV called for an end to hostilities in Lebanon and said the Middle East needed new approaches for peace as he finished a three-day trip to the country by urging an end to divisions.

Pope Leo XIV prayed Tuesday at the site of a deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion that has become a symbol of dysfunction and official impunity and called for justice to prevail, as he offered words of consolation to Lebanon's people on the final day of his first overseas trip.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed by the blast held up photos of their loved ones as Leo arrived at the scorched site. They stood side by side as Leo prayed silently first at a monument to the dead, then greeted each one, grasping their hands.