One of Lebanon's largest factories making the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon has been discovered and destroyed as part of rare security cooperation between intelligence agencies in Iraq and Lebanon, Iraq's Interior Ministry said.

The announcement late Monday came a month after the Lebanese Army issued a statement about the discovery of a drug factory in Yammoune village in the eastern Bekaa Valley with large amounts of drugs inside.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has stressed that no one is targeting the Shiite community in the current period, describing it as “an essential component of Lebanon.”

President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday warned against ending the United Nations peacekeepers' mandate in the country's south, after the U.N. Security Council began debating extending their mission.

The annual mandate renewal this year comes after Lebanese authorities, under heavy U.S. pressure, have committed to disarming Hezbollah by year end, following a November ceasefire deal that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the Iran-backed group and Israel.

The United Nations Security Council began to debate Monday a resolution drafted by France to extend the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon for a year with the ultimate aim to withdraw it.

Israel and the United States have reportedly opposed the renewal of the force's mandate, and it was unclear if the draft text has backing from Washington, which wields a veto on the Council.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday told visiting U.S. envoy Tom Barrack that the government’s latest decisions on Hezbollah’s disarmament “stemmed from the higher national interest.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday asked visiting U.S. envoy Tom Barrack about Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement and its withdrawal from Lebanon, stressing that “this is the gateway to stability in Lebanon and an opportunity to launch reconstruction and pave the way for residents’ return to their towns, in addition to securing the requirements for supporting the Lebanese Army.”

An unnamed Israeli official on Monday responded to remarks by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who is visiting Lebanon, by saying that “there is no intention to keep occupying Lebanese territory.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that “the bombing on Lebanon is taking place according to the ceasefire agreement.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for a “dialogue” on the government’s decision to monopolize arms in the hands of the state, rejecting the manner in which Cabinet took its latest decisions on Hezbollah’s disarmament.

President Joseph Aoun said in an interview that U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s paper “became a Lebanese paper” after Lebanon “introduced its remarks to it.”