Iran has sent a "clear message" to Washington: if the negotiated solution does not include a cessation of the Israeli war on Lebanon and the commencement of negotiations, Tehran will treat the United States and Israel separately, a media report said.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Monday that Israel is "committed to making the Litani River the new security border at the end of this war."

Iran has linked Lebanon to its front against Israel and made its inclusion in negotiations for a ceasefire a precondition for any agreement.

President Joseph Aoun warned Monday that the hand that would extend to harm civil peace will be cut off.

"No one in Lebanon wants civil war, and those who seek to exploit the situation won't succeed," Aoun said, adding that Security forces are implementing strict measures to maintain order, including arrests and weapon seizures.

The investigating judge in the Beirut port explosion case, Judge Tarek Bitar, concluded his investigations and referred the entire file to State Prosecutir Judge Jamal Hajjar,

Iran on Monday defied Lebanon's expulsion order for its ambassador by saying he would stay, further increasing tensions in a country in the crosshairs of the latest fighting between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanon had declared Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani "persona non grata" in an effort to weaken Iran's diplomatic presence and have a charge d'affairs at its embassy instead. But the deadline to leave the country was Sunday.

The Israeli military on Monday said a soldier was killed a day earlier in combat in southern Lebanon, bringing to six the number of troops killed since fighting with Hezbollah started earlier in March.

"Sergeant Liran Ben Zion, aged 19, from Holon... fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the military said. An officer was also severely wounded.

The Israeli army targeted overnight into Monday several towns and villages in south Lebanon as Hezbollah claimed attacks against soldiers in the south and targets in north Israel.

A strike on a Lebanese army checkpoint in al-Amirieh between Tyre and Naqoura, killed a soldier and wounded at least four others. Strikes also targeted Shaqra, Dweir, Zrarieh, Bazourieh, Qaaqaiyet al-Jesser, Yater, Qalaway, Ainata, Harees, Bint jbeil, Hanaway, Baraashit, and a public school in Samaiyeh, while artillery shelled al-Mansouri, Maroun al-Ras, and Yaroun.

As Christians packed churches across Lebanon this Palm Sunday to commemorate their belief in Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the renewed war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah weighed on parishioners.

Still, it was standing-room-only at a Maronite Catholic church near Dahieh, in Beirut's southern suburbs, a once-densely populated Shiite district — now emptied by sweeping Israeli evacuation orders and constant airstrikes. In the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, which has been almost cut off from the rest of the country by Israel bombing surrounding bridges, the peal of church bells and velvety choral music filled the air.

Armed with thick gloves and small plastic crates Kamal, Khalil and Reem jump on two mopeds and head into Beirut's southern suburbs, which see almost daily strikes by Israeli aircraft.

Hands scarred by a thousand bites and scratches, the small rescue team from Lebanese NGO Animals Lebanon uses two-wheelers to navigate streets made narrow by piles of rubble as they search for trapped animals.