President Joseph Aoun met Friday with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam after he returned from Paris where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

The Paris meetings discussed the situation in southern Lebanon and prepared the ground for a donor conference for Lebanon's cash-strapped army.

The Israeli army struck and shelled overnight into Friday several southern border towns including al-Mansouri, Majdalzoun, al-Ezziyeh, al-Qantara, Tallousa, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh.

Flare bombs were dropped on Yater and Beit Leef and detonations were carried out in Aita al-Shaab.

Lebanon's judiciary has accused 14 Lebanese and Syrians, including a Hezbollah member and an Assad-era Syria officer, of forming and training groups to launch attacks in Syria, a judicial official said Thursday.

Earlier this month, Lebanese authorities arrested a group including a former Syrian intelligence officer and several accomplices who allegedly planned attacks against the forces of Syria's new government and received training from Iran-backed Hezbollah. The group has denied the allegation.

The will of Iran and its allies to destroy Israel “has not disappeared” but “has simply weakened,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

“Even though we have accomplished the bulk of the work, there is still work to be done -- and we will do it. We will eliminate Hamas and, above all, we will defeat the Iranian regime. We will overthrow it. It will fall. We will also deal with Hezbollah, and it will fall too,” Netanyahu added.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, King Abdullah II of Jordan and senior military officials from their countries and partner nations, such as Britain and the United States, met Thursday in Paris to discuss international support for the cash-strapped Lebanese army.

The French presidency said the aim of the Paris talks was to review a Lebanese armed forces deployment plan based on a "clear, credible and realistic" framework as a prerequisite for what it hopes will be "robust" international support, whether in the form of financial assistance, equipment or training.

The government will on Thursday discuss a proposal from the Foreign Ministry to establish a European civil-military mission in Lebanon for a three-year period, al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

The mission aims to "contribute to the full implementation of Resolution 1701 (2006), assist the government in strengthening state institutions and authority, and consolidate the state's monopoly on the use of force by supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Internal Security Forces in asserting control over all Lebanese territory," the report said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Thursday that the government represents the majority of the Lebanese people, after Parliament granted it a vote of confidence following two days of debate.

Geagea, a staunch opponent of Hezbollah, said the sessions proved that the government truly represents the aspirations of the Lebanese people, who believe the only way out of the current crisis and cycle of wars is to put an end to Hezbollah's "illegal" weapons.

An Israeli military source on Thursday warned that “any attempt by Hezbollah to rebuild its capabilities will be met with an immediate response.”

Israeli artillery targeted overnight into Thursday Ali al-Taher, Kfartebnit and Hadatha while strikes hit al-Mansouri, al-Qantara and Majdalzoun.

Israeli forces carried out heavy detonations in Bani Hayyan, Beit Leef, Kfartebnit and Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh and bulldozed houses in al-Mansouri.

The leaders of France, Lebanon and Jordan on Thursday met in Paris to discuss international support for the cash-strapped Lebanese army and the creation of a new force to succeed a longstanding U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

The talks discussed intensifying international efforts to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable de-escalation and restore regional stability, the Lebanese presidency said.