Syrian troops backed by members of Hizbullah began a major offensive Saturday under the cover of intense airstrikes to retake a rebel-held mountain resort while opposition fighters retaliated by shelling the capital Damascus.

Taking the rebel-held town of Zabadani would tighten Hizbullah's grip on Syrian territories bordering Lebanon and would strengthen the Syrian government's control over of the Beirut-Damascus highway.

The Lebanese army has thwarted a terrorist plot to target areas in North Bekaa with dozens of rockets, An Nahar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that the army arrested 30 people, three of them holding the U.S. nationality, after it received information about the plot.

Investigations with a Syrian female detainee revealed that she had a scheme to carry out a suicide attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut during the month of Ramadan, a report said.

The suspect was recently arrested in al-Rahma Syrian encampment near the town of Bebnin in the northern district Akkar.

With 30 hectares (74 acres) of pine forest, it could be Beirut's answer to New York's Central Park, but for 20 years the capital's largest green space has been de facto off-limits to Lebanese.

It's a galling situation for residents of the city's concrete jungle, where activists have spent years campaigning for Horsh Beirut to be reopened to the public.

A top U.S. official is expected to visit Beirut to discuss with top Lebanese officials the demarcation of the maritime border with Israel, an issue which was thoroughly discussed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri over the weekend.

Amos Hochstein, who serves as the Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs leading the Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) at the U.S. Department of State, will travel to Beirut this week.

Security forces thwarted a plot to bomb an area in Beirut at the order of the Islamic State, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) on Saturday.

It said that two Lebanese suspects were tasked by the IS in Syria's al-Qalamoun region to carry out the attack.

Lebanese officials have warned of a huge Syrian refugee influx to Lebanon if the so-called Damascus battle erupts, An Nahar daily reported on Friday.

The ministerial sources told the newspaper that if such an influx takes place, the displaced Syrians will include supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad from different sects.

French President Francois Hollande's envoy is expected to visit Beirut in the coming weeks in an effort to revive France's efforts to resolve the Lebanese presidential deadlock.

An Nahar daily on Thursday quoted ministerial sources as saying that the Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry, Jean-François Girault, will visit Beirut at the end of the month or in early July.

The release of the Lebanese servicemen taken hostage by jihadists last year is awaiting Qatar's payment of a ransom, which is part of the prisoner exchange deal, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper quoted ministerial sources as saying that the release of the hostages hinged on the payment of “huge amounts of money to the terrorists as part of the deal.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is scheduled to travel to the Iraqi Kurdish region of Erbil on Friday to follow up the situation of Christians who have been displaced as a result of the Islamic State group's onslaught.

Al-Joumhouria daily said that al-Rahi will be accompanied during the one-day visit by the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola, who arrived in Beirut on Wednesday, and several members of the Lebanese Council of Maronite Bishops.