A “spiritual-national summit” was held Tuesday in Bkerki in the presence of the Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, amid an apparent Shiite boycott over recent remarks by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

The summit was attended by al-Rahi, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Sami Abi al-Mona, Orthodox Armenian Catholicos Aram I, Catholic Armenian Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI, Islamic Alawite Council chief Sheikh Ali Qaddour, MP Pierre Bou Assi representing Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh, and MP Nadim Gemayel representing Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel.

Israeli artillery shelled Monday the southern town of al-Taybeh, targeting members of the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, as they tried to extinguish a fire following an Israeli drone attack on the town.

The shelling injured a member of the Islamic Health Committee in the chest, the National News Agency said.

Tensions engulfed the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh in Sidon on Monday after a member of the Palestinian National Security Force was shot dead.

Annahar newspaper identified the slain member as Yassine Akl, saying he was killed in “the Ras al-Ahmar area that is controlled by Islamist militants.”

The Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, kicked off a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, amid escalation on Lebanon’s southern front with Israel.

Parolin is scheduled to take part in a “broad spiritual and national meeting” in Bkerki that has been called for by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has dubbed reports that Hezbollah was storing weapons at Beirut airport as "shameful" and "dangerous".

In an interview, Jumblat accused the British daily The Telegraph of "promoting war".

The flow of U.S. arms to Israel is necessary in order to “defeat Hamas” and “deter” Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

“Now this is crucial. It’s crucial for our common war aims to defeat Hamas and to prevent an escalation in Lebanon to a full-fledged war to have this supply,” Netanyahu told U.S. news portal Punchbowl News in an interview published Friday.

Hezbollah targeted Friday soldiers in the Ras al-Naqoura coastal post with an array of suicide drones in response to the Israeli strike on Deir Kifa.

The group later targeted four posts in the occupied Shebaa Farms and Kfarshouba Heights.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced Friday that Spain is working with its partners to de-escalate tensions in south Lebanon.

"We have repeatedly warned against escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border," Albares said in an interview with Al Jazeera, adding that "the cycle of violence in the Middle East cannot be allowed to expand further."

On her first visit to UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, U.N. Special Coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert met with UNIFIL Force Commander and Head of Mission Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro and with UNIFIL peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon.

After visiting the Blue Line, the Special Coordinator stated, “Our joint efforts are aimed at restoring stability along the Blue Line after over eight months of intense exchanges that have severely disrupted tens of thousands of lives on both sides. It is crucial for all sides to stop the firing and for the parties to commit to sustainable solutions in line with Security Council Resolution 1701. There is no inevitability to conflict.”

Lebanese media reported early Friday fresh Israeli strikes on al-Wazzani in the country's south, as fears of a regional conflict grew after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive and the Iran-backed militants vowed to blanket their foe in rockets.

Israeli artillery later shelled a house in the outskirts of al-Naqoura.