Druze leader Walid Jumblat has described Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem’s latest remarks on supporting Iran in the event of a new war as “irresponsible, irresponsible, irresponsible.”

Warning that such remarks “provoke the Israelis,” Jumblat lamented in remarks to Lebanon’s L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper that Qassem’s statements “threaten the good progress that the government has achieved in the army’s plans in the south.”

Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Hamish Falconer has held phone talks with Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji and welcomed the “progress” of the Lebanese Army in “bringing Hezbollah’s weapons in the south under state control.”

“The UK will continue to support all efforts to ensure security in Lebanon and across the region,” Falconer added, in a post on X.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Hamish Cowell on Tuesday launched the British Lebanese Chamber of Commerce (BLCC) during a reception held at his residence. 

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel described Wednesday Hezbollah as an armed militia, as parliament discussed the 2026 budget for a second day in a row.

Gemayel said no one will invest in Lebanon as long as there are war and armed militias, which angered a Hezbollah MP.

In a sign of the growing harmony between President Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri, an agreement to activate diplomatic efforts was put into effect through the U.N. complaint that was filed by the Foreign Ministry over Israel’s violations, a media report said.

Informed political sources told ad-Diyar newspaper that the step followed a visit by Foreign Minister Youssef Raji to the Baabda Palace, during which Aoun asked Rajji to take action to tackle the continuous Israeli attacks.

As the U.S.-led Mechanism meetings in Naqoura falter -- or prepare to enter a new phase -- behind-the-scenes political activity involving Lebanon, the U.S. and Israel is gaining momentum, a media report said.

These moves aim to launch negotiations that “transcend the geographical coordinates of Hezbollah’s arsenals and tunnels, moving instead toward the level of ‘political surgery’ in a scenario mirroring the Syrian model,” Lebanon’s al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Communication took place between the Lebanese and Egyptian presidencies prior to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at the Davos summit, media reports said.

“Al-Sisi was told that Lebanon is implementing the government’s plan for collecting Hezbollah’s arms and that Israel has not fulfilled anything of what was agreed on with the Americans,” diplomatic sources told An-Nahar newspaper.

U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa will be the United States envoy to the ceasefire monitoring committee, replacing American diplomat Morgan Ortagus, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported Tuesday.

The daily said that Lebanon has been officially notified on Monday that Ortagus' role in the ceasefire committee has ended.

Saudi Arabia has recently decided to change its stance over the Qatari role in Lebanon and this transformation is linked to an understanding with the U.S. over a Qatari role in supporting Lebanon financially and politically, a media report said.

The development is also related to the latest rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, especially that Abu Dhabi is “active in the Lebanese arena in a way opposed to the policies of Riyadh and Doha,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

President Joseph Aoun's security and military Advisor Antoine Mansour met Tuesday with Mechanism's Assistant Chief U.S. Colonel David Leon Klingensmith at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar.

The meeting was attended by the Defense Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Colonel Jason Belknap.