Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has responded to criticism from Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea as to perceived sidelining of Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji by saying that “the constitution stipulates that the Council of Ministers is the one that sets the government’s general policy in all fields, including foreign policy, while each minister is responsible for managing the affairs of their ministry and implementing this policy within their powers.”

“Hence, the foreign policy of the Lebanese state is not the policy of a person or ministry in isolation from the government,” Salam noted.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has noted that “the dawn of sovereignty has undoubtedly broken” in Lebanon, vowing that the LF and its allies “will not allow anyone to obstruct its emergence, whether through bullying the state and the free, sovereign Lebanese, or through appeasement, procrastination, stalling, and patchwork solutions.”

The state should be “sovereign over its land and its decisions,” stressed Geagea in an annual speech commemorating the “Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance.”

Justice Minister Adel Nassar announced Monday that Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar has concluded his investigations and referred the file to the Public Prosecutor's Office for its review, paving the way for the indictment.

“We expect this stage to be completed during or towards the end of October, a crucial step towards uncovering the truth and achieving justice in one of the most painful cases for the Lebanese people," Nassar wrote on X.

The Israeli army claimed Saturday that it struck Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure a day earlier in response to an explosive drone that was allegedly launched by Hezbollah but caused no casualties.

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on Thursday evening on several areas in south Lebanon and, for the first time in three months, an area in West Bekaa.

MP Ihab Hamadeh of Hezbollah noted Friday that "there is still ambiguity surrounding the reality of Israel's control over the Ali al-Taher hill," in the first comment from the Iran-backed group regarding Israel’s overnight announcement.

"How can the Israeli enemy claim to control the Ali al-Taher hill when it continues to bombard and raid it relentlessly, knowing that it controls it from the air or by surrounding it geographically from all sides, without its forces being able to enter the facility or gain control of it on the ground," Hamadeh told Russia’s Sputnik radio.

President Joseph Aoun thanked the "United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump" in a statement Friday after the Red Cross transferred to Lebanon four more people detained by Israel, a day after a first person was freed.

Aoun in a statement expressed his gratitude "for all the efforts exerted, particularly by the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump, and by international bodies, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross".

Iran is planning "a dangerous scenario" after it drew lessons from October 7, an Israeli media report said.

The report published in Maarif said Iran is preparing a coordinated attack on several fronts at the same time, including Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Yemen's Houthis, and Iraqi militias.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday night that the Israeli army has cleared the strategic Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, which he said Hezbollah had developed as an extension of the Beaufort (al-Shakif) position.

According to Netanyahu, the ridge was used to threaten the northern Israeli settlements of Kiryat Shmona and Metula and was positioned as part of Hezbollah’s plans to potentially invade the Galilee.

Lebanon and the European Union on Thursday launched the EU-Lebanon Joint Monitoring Committee, a new platform for strategic dialogue on EU-Lebanon cooperation.

The meeting was co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and Minister of Economy and Trade Amer Bisat, serving as Vice-Chair on behalf of the Minister of Finance, alongside EU Ambassador to Lebanon Sandra De Waele and Director for the Middle East and North Africa Division at the European Commission Henrike Trautmann.