A month into Israel's war against Hezbollah, invading Israeli troops are gradually advancing in south Lebanon, raising fears for the area's fate following the last Israeli occupation that lasted nearly two decades.

Since war erupted last month, Israeli officials have said Israel intends to establish a "security zone" inside Lebanon.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran will not provide a durable solution to the issue of Tehran's nuclear program and that Trump cannot keep "contradicting" himself every day on Iran.

"A targeted military action, even for a few weeks, will not allow us to resolve the nuclear issue in the long term," Macron said in South Korea.

In rugged terrain along the Syrian-Lebanese border, yellow bulldozers raised earthen berms in front of armored vehicles while soldiers combed through tunnels they said were used by Hezbollah, as Syria reinforces its side of the border.

Syria is seeking to stay out of the regional war, whose flames have reached neighboring Lebanon, where Hezbollah is fighting a fierce conflict with Israel.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards insisted on Wednesday that the strategic strait of Hormuz will remain closed to the country's "enemies" as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would only consider a ceasefire if it was reopened.

Whenever war rocks northern Israel, residents of Kiryat Shmona live their lives to the rhythm of rocket sirens. Young people have left the city, and those who remain feel neglected by the government.

Some mere three kilometers from Lebanon, this northern settlement is living through its second war in less than three years, not counting Israel's 12-day war with Iran last June, or the war with Hamas in Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran has asked for a ceasefire but that the United States would only consider this once the Strait of Hormuz is clear for shipping.

Iran's president "has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday France had not been consulted and wasn't taking part in the war against Iran, after U.S. leader Donald Trump criticized the country's overflight ban on planes carrying military supplies for the conflict.

An Israeli strike in the Jnah area of Beirut early on Wednesday killed Hezbollah's top commander for Iraq military affairs, Youssef Hashem, a Lebanese security source and a Hezbollah source both told AFP.

The security source said "a senior Hezbollah official, who is the military chief for the Iraq file, named Youssef Hashem, was killed in the strike on the Jnah area in Beirut," adding that "he was in a meeting inside a tent near several vehicles".

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called NATO "the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen" Wednesday following renewed criticism of the group by U.S. President Donald Trump.

"It has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO," Starmer told a press conference, after Trump told the UK's Telegraph newspaper that the alliance was a "paper tiger".

The Lebanese army said its forces have largely withdrawn from some border towns as Israeli troops continue to push a ground invasion into the country.

The military said in a statement that troops had to reposition to prevent being dispersed and cut off from support lines "as a result of the escalation of the Israeli aggression".