Explosions rocked a Syrian military base housing a weapons Hizbullah warehouse Friday in the country's central Homs province, and a local official said the cause was not immediately clear.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syria war, said an Israeli rocket attack was suspected. It said the weapons warehouse, south of the city of Homs, is for Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbullah group, which has backed Syria's armed forces in the nine-year civil war.

Iran has slammed Germany's ban on the activities of Lebanon's Hizbullah movement on its soil, saying it would face consequences for its decision to give in to Israeli and US pressure.

The U.S. State Department on Friday “applauded” Germany’s ban on the activities of Hizbullah on its soil, considering that obstructing its activities would diminish Iran’s influence in the region.

Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni described the government’s economic rescue plan approved on Thursday as “historic,” saying it paves the way for negotiations with the IMF and support from donor countries to help Lebanon’s ailing economy, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday

Lebanon is mired in its worst economic and financial crisis since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, exacerbated by the eruption in October 2019 of angry popular protests.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday invited the heads of parliamentary blocs to a “national meeting” in Baabda on Wednesday to discuss “the government's reform program,” the Presidency said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Thursday warned against attacks on the army, following violent confrontations between protesters and the military in recent days.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri lashed out Thursday at Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and distanced himself from the latest violent protests, as he said that he supports the “ugly ouster” of the government “if it fails” to rescue the economy.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks Thursday afternoon at the Center House with former premiers Najib Miqati, Fouad Saniora and Tammam Salam and discussions tackled the latest political developments, Hariri's office said.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Thursday that his government will go ahead and seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund based on an economic and financial reform plan approved earlier in the day.

In an address to the nation, Diab described the plan adopted unanimously by the Cabinet as a comprehensive "roadmap" for dealing with the country's spiraling financial crisis, the worst since the 1975-90 civil war.