The European Union on Wednesday announced a new €12.5 million project to support the Lebanese Army in "leading recovery efforts, enhancing security and helping communities in Southern Lebanon rebuild."

The project will be implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed his optimism in the wake of his meeting with visiting U.S. envoy Tom Barrack.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, who rarely leaves his Maarab headquarters, on Wednesday held a meeting in Clemenceau with Druze leader Walid Jumblat.

Parliament on Wednesday lifted the parliamentary immunity of MP George Boujikian so that the judiciary can prosecute him over alleged corruption charges dating back to his tenure as industry minister in the previous government.

A 20-strong Israeli infantry force made an incursion at dawn into the Rayhanat Berri area in the al-Mari plain in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said.

President Joseph Aoun has said that the Lebanese state’s decision to monopolize arms in its hands is “irreversible,” but noted that “it will be implemented patiently, in a manner that preserves Lebanon’s unity and prevents harm to civil peace.”

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, began Thursday a visit to Israel for meetings with senior Israeli officials.

The visit is part of the Special Coordinator’s regular consultations with key stakeholders on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) and the November 2024 Cessation of Hostilities Understanding.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack who is visiting Lebanon amid ongoing domestic and international pressure for Hezbollah to disarm after a bruising war with Israel, is "hopeful" and "optimistic" as he works to reach an understanding by the beginning of August that would "re-establish" a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement reached in late November.

Barrack said that Hezbollah disarmament is a domestic issue and that his country is committed to try and make a difference in Lebanon by using its influence to implement the ceasefire agreement.

Hezbollah on Wednesday categorically denied remarks attributed to it by Al-Arabiya and its Al-Hadath channel about its “readiness to clash with the Lebanese state” if it wants to remove its weapons.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack met Wednesday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, after he met on Tuesday and Monday with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Speaker Nabih Berri and a host of political, religious and financial figures.

Barrack said in a statement from Bkerki that the situation in Lebanon is complicated but assured that everybody is doing their best.