The toppling of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, who had strong ties to Iran and Hezbollah, has crippled Hezbollah's ability to bounce back by cutting off a vital weapons-smuggling route through Syria.

Syria's new president and Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister met last month in Damascus and discussed the relations between the two countries. In the meeting, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa vowed that Syria will no longer allow the smuggling of weapons and money to Hezbollah, a local media report said.

President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM-designate Nawaf Salam met Thursday in Baabda for around two hours without managing to resolve "a dispute over the fifth Shiite minister" in the new government, media reports said.

TV networks had expected the government to be formed due to Berri's presence at the palace and the summoning of Council of Ministers Secretary-General Mahmoud Makiyyeh, who was supposed to recite the cabinet formation decrees.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran "cannot have a Nuclear Weapon", a day after he signed an order reinstating a "maximum pressure" policy against Tehran over allegations that it was trying to develop such weapons.

"I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding: "I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gifted U.S. President Donald Trump a golden pager and a regular one, a reference to the clandestine operation against Hezbollah last year.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has noted that the FPM supports the principle of rotating ministerial portfolios.

Lebanon’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council, through its Permanent Mission in New York, against Israel's repeated violations of the ceasefire and of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

The National News agency said Tuesday that Lebanon has cited ground and air attacks, the destruction of homes and residential neighborhoods in Lebanon, and the kidnapping and targeting of Lebanese citizens, journalists and Lebanese army members.

MP Nabil Bader of Beirut has accused Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam of “selectivity” in his approach toward the cabinet formation process.

MP Pierre Bou Assi of the Lebanese Forces on Tuesday hurled a jab at Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam.

The Lebanese Army has seized a Hezbollah truck loaded with weapons in the Iqlim al-Kharoub region near Sidon, media reports said Tuesday.

The weapons, including detonators and grenades, were taken from a warehouse in Wardaniyeh after it was targeted by an Israeli strike.

Before leaving for Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's wars with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and its confrontations with Iran had "redrawn the map" in the Middle East.

"But I believe that working closely with President Trump we can redraw it even further, and for the better," he said.