The government has named regulatory authorities for the country's electricity and telecommunications sectors, Information Minister Paul Morcos said late Thursday after a cabinet session.

Naming a regulatory authority for Lebanon's corruption-plagued electricity sector has been a key demand by international organizations.

Two people were wounded Friday in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern town of Aita al-Jabal, as Israel seemed to intensify its strikes on Lebanon despite a ceasefire reached in late November.

Israeli soldiers also detonated a house Friday in the outskirts of the border town of Aitaroun.

The U.S. Department of War has approved a Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package for Lebanon with an estimated value of $14.2 million.

“The PDA package will build the capability and capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to dismantle weapons caches and military infrastructure of non-state groups, including Hezbollah,” the Department said in a statement. 

President Joseph Aoun said Thursday, after a meeting with French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, that the Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal are preventing the army from completing its deployment in south Lebanon, urging France and the U.S. to put more pressure on Israel.

Le Drian had told Aoun during the meeting that Lebanon's plan to disarm Hezbollah is a positive development that would lead to increased international support.

A second group of Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon on Thursday under a plan the United Nations developed with the Lebanese government following the downfall of Bashar Assad’s rule in December.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that over 300 Syrian individuals returned home with transportation provided from Beirut, crossing through Masnaa border, to drop-off points in Hama, Homs and Idlib governorates in Syria.

French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived Thursday in Beirut where he met with Lebanese leaders as France prepares to organize two conferences in support of the Lebanese armed forces and of recovery and reconstruction.

Le Drian met Thursday with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Syria said Thursday that its forces dismantled a cell affiliated with Lebanon's Hezbollah, a key ally of ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

"Specialized units in cooperation with the general intelligence service... were able to arrest a terrorist cell belonging to the Hezbollah militia that was active" in the Damascus countryside, an interior ministry statement said, quoting a local commander.

The Health Ministry said an Israeli strike in the country's south on Thursday killed one person, the latest raid despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

"An Israeli enemy drone strike targeted a motorcycle on the Ain Baal-Bazouriyeh road, killing one person," the Ministry said in a statement, referring to an area in south Lebanon's Tyre district.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed Wednesday that “the continuation of the resistance is a necessity for everyone” and that “it is Lebanon’s strength,” days after the Lebanese government approved a Lebanese Army plan for disarming Hezbollah and all armed groups in the country.

“We call for a return to priorities, which are ending the aggression, Israel’s withdrawal from the South, the release of the Lebanese captives, and the start of the reconstruction process,” Qassem said in a televised speech marking Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Wednesday in Ain el-Tineh with the deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament, Hamid Reza Haji Babaei, who was accompanied by a delegation.

“It was an opportunity for us to affirm, through our visit to His Excellency Speaker Nabih Berri, our support and endorsement of Lebanese national unity, solidarity and unity among all segments of the dear Lebanese people,” Babaei said.