The former government tasked the Higher Defense Council with “devising plans for removing weapons with the least possible damage” and Nawaf Salam’s government is “still endorsing the same plan and will not back down,” Minister of the Displaced and State Minister for Technology Affairs and Artificial Intelligence, Kamal Shehadeh, said.

U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East Morgan Ortagus was “excited to be back in Lebanon” to meet with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Speaker Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, the U.S. Embassy said.

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon says the balance of force in the country has now “significantly changed” which may finally enable slow progress toward a more permanent ceasefire, “but this may still take a long time.”

Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz told the U.N. Security Council that an internal political process could be required to deal with key issues including dealing with Hezbollah fighters and other armed groups.

Israeli strikes Monday on southern Lebanon killed three people, according to the health ministry, with Israel's military saying it had "eliminated" a Hezbollah commander.

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon since the November 27 ceasefire that largely halted more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, including two months of all-out war.

Lebanon’s top leaders Joseph Aoun, Nabih Berri and Nawaf Salam pledged to U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus that arms would be limited to the state’s hands and withdrawn from Hezbollah as an obligatory gateway for the state to extend its authority across its territory, presidential sources said.

President Joseph Aoun vowed Monday that Lebanon is committed to reforms and to Hezbollah’s disarmament, revealing that efforts to devise a "national security strategy" will begin "soon."

"Lebanon needs time and space to resolve these matters calmly," Aoun said, adding that disarming Hezbollah would happen through dialogue and communication. "Hezbollah after all is a Lebanese component and the Israeli occupation of the five hills (in south Lebanon) would not help Lebanon but only complicate the situation further."

Parliament Speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri has told Deputy U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus that her past stances were not "encouraging" but said his meeting Saturday with her was "positive", al-Joumhouria newspaper said Monday.

In her last visit to war-hit Lebanon on February, Ortagus voiced from Baabda pro-Israel statements. "We are grateful to our ally Israel for defeating Hezbollah," Ortagus said, adding that the United States has set a "red line" that Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon's next government.

Lebanon’s top officials Joseph Aoun, Nabih Berri and Nawaf Salam said Deputy U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Morgan Ortagus “showed flexibility regarding some Lebanese demands that she was told of” during her weekend visit to Lebanon, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

President Joseph Aoun met Monday at the presidential palace with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir conducted an assessment of the situation on the border with Lebanon on Sunday “in preparation for the (Jewish) holidays,” the Israeli army said.