Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday reiterated his solidarity with the residents of the clashes-hit Lebanese south.

Referring to a recent visit to the South, al-Rahi said: “We told residents that our solidarity with them includes all their needs and the first outcry that we voice with them is: we don’t want a war that would destroy our homes, kill our children and displace us.”

Israel on Saturday shelled the outskirts of the southern Lebanese border towns of Naqoura, Kfarshouba, al-Wazzani, Blida, Mhaybib, al-Dhayra, Alma al-Shaab and Tayr Harfa amid reports of Hezbollah attacks on Israel's Misgav Am and a surveillance pole near al-Wazzani.

The Israeli army said Saturday that it had fired overnight "toward the source of" unspecified launches from Lebanon towards Israeli territory.

On the occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day, the European Union and Expertise France, the French public agency for international technical cooperation, launched a EUR 12 million project to support progress in key areas of public administration reform in Lebanon.

The four-year project, funded by the European Union, is aligned with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (2020-2025), the opportunities of reform identified by the IMF Staff-Level Agreement and the principles of modern public administration. It also complements the current work done through the Lebanon Financing Facility for the Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF).

While Hezbollah opponents call for the implementation of U.N. resolution 1701, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says he hopes that Israel implements the resolution.

"I hope they implement it and withdraw from the Shebaa Farms, the Kfarshouba Hills, the village of Ghajar, the 13 contested points and B1," Berri told al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published Friday, as he denied having discussed the issue with any diplomat or knowing about an imminent visit by U.S. energy envoy Amos Hochstein that would possibly discuss the land border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.

U.S. presidential envoy Amos Hochstein told Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab in their meeting in Dubai that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 “is not on the front burner” and that “its amendment is not currently on the table,” a media report said.

The Israeli artillery shelled Friday several border towns including Blida, Dhaira, Rashaya al-Fokhar, Kfarshouba, Houla, Markaba, Aitaroun, al-Naqoura, Odeisseh, Maroun al-Ras, Mhaibib, al-Labbouneh, al-Naqoura and Shihine, as Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters.

One civilian was injured in Rashaya al-Fokhar.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Thursday kicked off a solidarity visit to clashes-hit south Lebanon by praying at the Our Lady of the Seas Cathedral in the city of Tyre.

Israeli forces shelled and carried out air strikes on southern Lebanon Thursday, with Hezbollah also claiming several attacks on Israeli troops and positions.

Hezbollah said it has targeted the Ramim barracks, al-Marj military post, Hadb al-Bustan, al-Jerdah, Bayyad Blida, Ma'ayan Baruch and a group of soldiers in the Mattat barracks. All targets on Israeli military positions were direct hits, Hezbollah said in a statement. Israeli media reported one death in Mattat.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday evening vowed to drive Hezbollah away from the border with Israel beyond the Litani River.

After concluding a highly tense meeting with the heads of frontline communities along the Lebanon border, Gallant assured them that the approximately 80,000 residents living within 9 kilometers of the border will not return to their homes until security in the area is restored.

Israeli environmental experts have called on the defense establishment to carefully weigh the long-term environmental implications of reported plans to flood the immense network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip with seawater to flush the Hamas militants out.

Quoting U.S. officials, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the Israeli army last month set up five large water pumps near the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, which are capable of flooding the tunnels within weeks by pumping thousands of cubic meters of water per hour into them.