The U.N. peacekeeping chief whose force monitors Lebanon’s south said redeploying Lebanese troops there is crucial for any solution to more than a year of Hezbollah-Israel clashes that escalated into war in September.

"The redeployment of the Lebanese armed forces is an absolutely central element to any durable settlement," Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters during a briefing in the Beirut area.

Lebanon has recently agreed with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein on a draft agreement that was supposed to be presented to Israel and “so far we have not received any remarks or responses regarding that formula that we discussed,” Speaker Nabih Berri’s aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil said.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has said that he will be happy if Israel “does not triumph over Lebanon or occupy it.”

Heavy air strikes hit the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital overnight into Thursday.

The Israeli army issued Thursday morning evacuation warnings for buildings in Choueifat's al-Amrousiyeh, Ghobeiri, Haret Hreik and Borj al-Brajneh following three rounds of overnight airstrikes.

Despite the military escalation that Lebanon witnessed over the past hours, it seems that “signs of hope are looming on the horizon,” the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television reported on Wednesday.

Any settlement that “does not guarantee Lebanon's sovereignty” cannot be accepted, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut.

“We are communicating with (U.S. Secretary of State Antony) Blinken and (U.S. mediator Amos) Hochstein to speed up the ceasefire in Lebanon,” Abdelatty added.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Wednesday that the second phase of Israel’s ground operation in south Lebanon “will not give it the victory image it is seeking” after “its failure in the first ground campaign.”

The European Council has adopted an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility (EPF) worth €15 million to the benefit of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the EU Delegation to Lebanon said.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that only U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) should be present on the table of negotiations, adding that “both sides should work on implementing its stipulations and commit to them, not only the Lebanese side.”

The timing of the Lebanese Army’s deployment in the area south of the Litani River is among the points of contention in the negotiations, informed sources told the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.