Efforts are ongoing within official political and intelligence channels in order to reschedule a new visit for Army chief Rodolphe Haykal to Washington within 48 hours, a media report said.

Haykal would meanwhile renew “his pledge to remove arms south and north of the Litani by the end of this year,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper said.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that Lebanon no longer has the luxury of wasting time and opportunities, calling for peace and tolerance.

"We have squandered many opportunities, including the Taif Agreement, the failure to deploy the army in the South in 2000 and to manage our political affairs after the Syrian mandate," Salam said.

The Lebanese Forces said in a statement Friday that the real "spreaders of venom" are Hezbollah, without naming the group, after pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar published a report in which it accused a senior LF official of being an "informant" on Hezbollah to the U.S. administration.

President Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri had both mentioned Lebanese politicians "spreading venom" in Washington without naming them.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa has started his diplomatic efforts and contacts between Lebanese officials and the U.S. officials who are in charge with the Lebanese file in his administration, media reports said.

Issa has met with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam for a second time since his arrival in Lebanon, the reports added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has noted that "the threat posed by Hezbollah today is completely different from what it was before October 7," stressing that "everything has changed."

He explained that Iran may try to rebuild the so-called Axis of Resistance, emphasizing that "Israel will work to prevent that in Lebanon and elsewhere."

President Joseph Aoun said Friday, amid a visit to the south Litani sector command, that the army is committed to protecting the Lebanese and the southeners despite being targeted by campaigns of defamation and incitement.

During the visit, a day ahead of Lebanon's independence day, Aoun hoped that the next independence day would come with the entire south liberated and only the Lebanese flag raised on its borders.

Marking nearly one year since the November Understanding came into effect, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, told the United Nations Security Council that “since that time, noteworthy progress has been achieved on some issues, while others remain at a standstill”.

Briefing the Security Council on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) alongside United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Special Coordinator emphasized that “time is of the essence”, noting that “Lebanon can no longer afford to be perceived as dragging its feet – on either its participation in dialogue or the establishment of a State monopoly on arms”. While commending the Lebanese Armed Forces for the progress seen in tackling non-State arms, particularly south of the Litani River, Hennis-Plasschaert stressed the outstanding and urgent need for a whole-of-government approach to the extension of State authority. “The army, alone, cannot bring resolution 1701 to life”, she said.

Israeli and U.S. pressure on Lebanon's army to speedily disarm Hezbollah is intensifying, with the army chief cancelling a visit to Washington after officials snubbed him, a military official told AFP.

Lebanon's army has been beefing up its presence in south Lebanon near the Israeli border since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last November sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.

Lebanon's most wanted drug trafficker was arrested Thursday after years on the run, authorities said.

Noah Zeiter was taken into custody during a raid near the eastern city of Baalbeck, according to a high-ranking military official. Zeiter eventually turned himself in to military intelligence after a standoff. The official spoke on condition on anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

The French Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned the intensification of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and called for Israeli withdrawal from Syrian territory.

"Israel must respect Syrian territory," the statement read.