The Israeli army said it has reached "another phase" of preparation for war on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has spent months exchanging fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah generally targets Israeli positions close to the border, and says it is doing so in support of Hamas and Gaza.

Hezbollah attacked Monday the Ras al-Naqoura Israeli post with a suicide drone while Israeli artillery and warplanes bombed the Marjaaoun plain and al-Khiam.

Warplanes had struck overnight a house in Kfarkela and the town of Sultaniyeh in southern Lebanon, killing at least three people.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro appealed to all sides to recommit to the cessation of hostilities under the framework of resolution 1701, in a joint statement they published on Monday.

"It is six months since the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line began, and continue unabated, taking a heavy toll on both sides. The lives of thousands of people have been profoundly affected. Tens of civilians have tragically lost their lives while many more have lost their homes, their livelihoods and any sense of certainty for the future.

Israel's military said Sunday its warplanes had struck Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon, where the Iran-backed group has a strong presence, in retaliation for one of its drones being downed.

A source close to Hezbollah told an AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek region that the strikes targeted Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has hurled a new jab at Hezbollah in connection with the ongoing conflict with Israel, saying “delusional are those who think that they can control the rest of the citizens and still defeat Israel.”

“It should go without saying that we should preserve our national unity and our state and its institutions, and that we should have a president so that he be the first resistance fighter in the face of any attack, occupation or violation, whether it comes from terrorism or from the Israeli enemy,” Bassil said during an iftar banquet in Jbeil.

An Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Lebanon has killed three Amal Movement fighters, the Hezbollah-allied movement said.

Israel said warplanes bombed what it described as an Amal military compound and said the group was planning an attack against Israel. The military statement said its jets also struck several locations used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and a jet attacked a person doing "drone observation activity" near the border.

Swiss International Air Lines said Friday it had turned back a flight in mid-air heading from Zurich to Beirut because the security situation in Lebanon had become "difficult to assess."

The flight, with 138 passengers and five crew on board, did not have permission to land back in Zurich overnight Thursday so was instead diverted to Vienna, SWISS said.

President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides will visit Lebanon on Monday with a ministerial delegation.

On his one day visit to Lebanon, Christodoulides will meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned that Israel “will regret it if it launches any war on Lebanon,” stressing that Hezbollah is “fully prepared for any war.”

State Security chief Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba has been charged by State Commissioner to Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki in the case of the detainee Dany al-Rashid’s escape from prison, judicial sources said.

The sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper that Saliba has been charged with the misdemeanors of abuse of power and misuse of influence.