U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British PM Keir Starmer agreed in their meeting in Berlin on Friday to dispatch U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein to Beirut, a diplomatic source said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said a drone was launched toward his residence in Caesarea, after the military reported a drone from Lebanon had "hit a structure" in the central town on Saturday.

Lebanese authorities said two people were killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday in Jounieh, north of Beirut, in the first strike on the area since Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire last year.

U.S. President Joe Biden has suggested that negotiating a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah could be easier than forging one between Israel and Hamas.

Biden said he discussed the way ahead to end the Middle East conflict following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza when he met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived Friday in Lebanon, her office said, the first head of state or government to visit since an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah last month.

Forces in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon are maintaining their positions despite “demands” to move from the Israeli army, a spokesperson said Friday.

Andrea Tenenti of UNIFIL, the interim force in Lebanon, says a “unanimous” decision was taken by its 50 troop-contributing countries and the U.N. Security Council to hold its positions and continue efforts to monitor the conflict and ensure aid gets to civilians.

Egyptian officials are carrying out continuous discussions with U.S., Saudi and French officials, separately and collectively, over the importance of de-escalation in Lebanon, al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has called for unity to confront Israel, for a ceasefire, and for the election of a consensual president.

In remarks to al-Modon web portal, Bassil said the priority is for a ceasefire and for deterring a possible re-occupation of south Lebanon.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused the Lebanese government of becoming "a rescue committee" instead of a state and of allowing Iran to fight its battles from Lebanon.

In remarks published Friday in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Geagea said that Hezbollah has dragged Lebanon to where it is now, while Lebanese officials were "loafing around" instead of calling for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

Hezbollah fired Friday a volley of rockets at Israel's Yoav barracks in the occupied Golan Heights and another volley of rockets at the Zofolon area north of Haifa.

The Israeli army for its part called for the evacuation of 20 southern Lebanese towns, and struck several southern towns including Jbaa, Aita al-Shaab, Zrariyeh, Marwanieh, Bazourieh, Shaaytiyeh, Ebl al-Siqi, Malkieh, and Ansar.