Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil lauded Wednesday Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad's steadfastness after the killing of his son last week in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon.

"We, as Lebanese, must respect each other’s martyrs,” Bassil said as he offered his condolences to Raad in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Lebanon’s Central Bank is inclined to abolish the so-called lollar, a term coined by Lebanese economist Dan Azzi in 2019 to refer to a ‘Lebanese dollar’, or a dollar that became trapped in Lebanon’s banking system in the wake of the 2019 crisis, media reports said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had received on the occasion of Lebanon's independence day a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron that the Grand Serail published on Tuesday, a day before the PM met with the French President's envoy in Beirut.

Before his envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian reiterated the need to elect a President in a meeting with Mikati, Macron warned in his letter that the presidential vacancy might weigh on the country's ability to overcome its crises and to prevent a security deterioration related to the war in Gaza.

Israeli soldiers opened fire Wednesday from the Abbad post on a Lebanese Army patrol near the southern border town of Houla, despite an unofficial truce.

During The four days of truce, calm was interrupted by occasional Israeli shelling and incessant buzz of Israeli surveillance drones, while Hezbollah abided by the truce.

French special presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, who arrived Tuesday in Beirut, met Wednesday with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun.

Le Drian is reportedly visiting the crisis-hit country in a bid to reactivate the presidential election file.

Hamas said Tuesday that it clashed with Israeli forces after they violated the truce in northern Gaza, while noting that it is still committed to the temporary ceasefire.

CIA Director William Burns arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for secret meetings with Israel’s spy chief and Qatar’s prime minister aimed at brokering an expansive deal between Israel and Hamas, three people familiar with the visit told the Washington Post.

The Israeli artillery shelled Tuesday the outskirts of the border town of Aita al-Shaab, as calm almost prevailed over the border area in south Lebanon.

While Lebanon and Hezbollah weren't officially parties to the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, it has brought at least a temporary halt to the daily exchanges of rockets, artillery shelling and airstrikes.

Cautious calm prevailed over the border area in south Lebanon Monday, the last day of a four-day cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.

The calm was interrupted overnight by Israeli shelling on the southern border town of Marwahin.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will not call for a cabinet session that would discuss the term extension of the army chief before Hezbollah announces its stance, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said.

The daily reported Monday that Mikati needs to know whether Hezbollah would support its ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, and refuse the extension of Gen. Joseph Aoun's term ahead of his planned retirement in January.