Retired military personnel on Wednesday staged protests at the Riad Al-Solh Square, near the entrance to Parliament, and in other locations in the country to reject the 2027 draft state budget, which failed to include any adjustment to ranks and salaries.

They criticized authorities for overlooking their demands, accusing them of being indifferent to the hardships they face in meeting their living expenses.

Joint Saudi-American diplomatic efforts over the past 24 hours have succeeded in de-escalating tensions in southern Lebanon following direct U.S. engagement with Israel, local media reported.

U.S. sources told al-Jadeed that meetings between American and Saudi officials focused on the Lebanese file, with Riyadh backing the Lebanese government's demands to secure a permanent solution.

One person was killed Wednesday in an Israeli strike on his motorcycle on the Zebdine-Marj Harouf road.

Israeli artillery shelled overnight into Wednesday the southern towns of Kfar Remman, al-Mansouri, Wadi Zebqine, Mays al-Jabal and Qabrikha, while strikes targeted Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Wadi Zebqine, Wadi Slouqi and Kfartebnit.

The Lebanese military said Tuesday it had rescued over 20 people off the country's northern coast after a boat trying to smuggle them out broke down.

A military statement said the naval forces, along with the civil defense agency and the Red Cross, rescued "22 people during an attempt to smuggle them illegally aboard a boat after it broke down off the coast of Tripoli," the largest city in the north.

Contacts made by President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Nawaf Salam, in addition to Arab and international efforts, have contributed to pacifying the situation in the city of Nabatieh, Al-Jadeed TV said on Tuesday, after 27 people were killed and 69 others were wounded in three days of Israeli attacks in the Nabatieh region.

Future steps might be taken to “consolidate and immunize stability through the deployment of the Lebanese army and security forces,” Al-Jadeed added.

There is talk behind the scenes about the possibility of moving the Rome negotiations, for which no date has yet been set, to Washington, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“The negotiating delegation may be limited to the military team, or there may be a merger between the military and political levels, but until now nothing is certain,” the daily added.

Hundreds of people in south Lebanon gathered on Tuesday to mourn two Hezbollah members and their family, among them a three-month-old infant, killed by an Israeli strike a day prior.

The two brothers' coffins, draped in the Iran-backed group's yellow flag, portraits of them in camouflage fatigues fixed to the front, led the procession through the village battered by repeated conflict over nearly three years.

Israeli artillery shelled overnight into Tuesday Wadi al-Slouqi and Wadi al-Hujair, while forces opened fire at forests near Qabrikha and detonated houses in al-Mansouri.

On Monday 13 people, including women and children, were killed in strikes on the south.

President Joseph Aoun has condemned Israel's "repeated attacks" on Lebanon, accusing it of violating the U.S.-brokered framework deal.

"When both sides sign an agreement, they are expected to honor it," he said. "Unfortunately, while Lebanon remains committed to the agreement and insists on its implementation, Israel continues to offer unacceptable excuses to justify its aggression. Flimsy pretexts are being used to defend these ongoing strikes."

The U.S. wants “the interest of the Shiite community and the return of residents to the South and their homes,” U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said on Tuesday after a visit to the Higher Islamic Shiite Council and a meeting with its head Sheikh Ali al-Khatib.

Speaking in Arabic, Issa added that Washington is willing to negotiate with Hezbollah “through the state,” adding that “the state is the side that works for the sake of Lebanon.”