An Israeli drone has targeted a Renault Rapid car on the Siddiqin-Kafra road in the South, causing casualties

Pope Leo XIV will carry a message of peace to Lebanon and the Christians of the Middle East when he visits next month, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi told AFP on Wednesday.

The Vatican said last week that Pope Leo will travel to Turkey and Lebanon in a six-day trip beginning late November, his first since becoming head of the Catholic Church.

The Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday that it has submitted to the government an urgent draft law for the abolition of Articles 112 and 122 of the electoral law, which limit the representation of expats to six newly-introduced seats.

The United States has welcomed President Joseph Aoun’s latest remarks on Lebanon’s readiness to engage in negotiations with Israel to resolve the outstanding issues, senior Lebanese diplomatic sources have said.

The U.S. is “readying to activate its mediation between Lebanon and Israel in the coming period, especially as its new ambassador Michel Issa begins his work in Beirut,” the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper.

The new U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa who is readying to assume his mission in the near future has said that “Lebanon’s future belongs to all those who believe in its recovery and its independence and its unity.”

An Israeli drone strike overnight targeted a motorcycle on the Wadi Jilou road in the southern Tyre district, the National News Agency said.

The attack critically wounded one person, NNA added.

An Israeli drone targeted Tuesday a region between Tebnine and Hariss in south Lebanon, wounding two people, the national News Agency said.

Despite a ceasefire reached in late November, Israel has kept up its strikes, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives. It is also still occupying five hills in south Lebanon that it deems "strategic."

Washington has started thinking of the “day after” in south Lebanon, as has happened in the Gaza Strip, and there are scenarios that are being milled, including the handover of the South to an international force, especially after UNIFIL’s departure, informed sources quoted U.S. officials as saying.

“These forces could be American until solutions are reached for the pending files, especially the issue of the land border demarcation,” the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.

Syria’s justice minister Mazhar al-Wais visited Tuesday Beirut to discuss with his Lebanese counterpart the file of the Syrian prisoners held in Lebanon.

Among the prisoners are Syrians who were involved in battles against the Lebanese Army. These will not be freed or transferred to Syria and are not part of the discussions, Lebanese Minister of Justice Adel Nassar said.

The Lebanese file will be activated in the near future and will be the next file after Gaza, Western diplomatic sources said.

The sources added, in remarks to al-Binaa newspaper, that “the military, security and political repercussions of the Gaza agreement will not only affect Lebanon but rather the entire region.”