The French Foreign Ministry has announced its commitment to preventing escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, stating that it is “actively engaged on all fronts to achieve this goal.”

Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s Tyre region have handed over to Lebanese authorities a group of individuals suspected of aiding Israel in its drone assassination of senior Hamas official Hadi Mustafa near Tyre on March 13.

A Christian political meeting will be held at 4pm Thursday in Bkirki to discuss and approve a political document prepared by the Maronite patriarchate.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said in a statement Thursday that elections are the only solution to the presidential crisis.

"Anyone who says there would be no president without dialogue is actually saying publicly and frankly 'If you do not accept my candidate, there will be no president'," Geagea said. "This is unacceptable and completely rejected.”

While Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari has blamed Hezbollah for the border conflict, he has also said that Israel does not rule out diplomatic solutions to cease the conflict.

Israeli warplanes raided Thursday several border towns in south Lebanon, a day after Hezbollah carried out seven attacks on northern Israel and the occupied Shebaa Farms.

Israeli warplanes and drones targeted the towns of al-Odaisseh, Aita al-Shaab, Yaroun, al-Majidieh, while Israeli artillery shelled al-Khiam, Aitaroun and the outskirts of Yaroun.

The Israeli army has announced the formation of a new regional brigade on Israel’s border with Syria and Lebanon.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) activity, is providing over 11,000 Lebanese farmers with seeds, seedlings, and compost to bolster food security in Lebanon, USAID said.

“This ongoing initiative aims to mitigate the impact of rising food costs and reduced purchasing power, particularly impacting rural Lebanese communities. On March 20, 2024, USAID Lebanon Mission Director Julie Southfield visited a distribution site in Jbeil to engage with farmers, addressing their challenges and underscoring the vital role of the agriculture sector in Lebanon’s economy,” the U.S agency said in a statement.

The five-nation group for Lebanon, which comprises the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, has met Lebanese leaders this week in an initiative aimed at ending a presidential crisis and months of political wrangling.

The group's initiative consists of three phases, Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Moussa said. Moussa told LBCI Wednesday that the first and most important step is to communicate with the blocs and to have their commitment. Consultations would follow, and the third step would be the election of a president in Parliament.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix have briefed the Security Council on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006). The Security Council was meeting in closed consultations to discuss the latest report of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of the resolution, the U.N. said in a statement.

Deeply concerned by the escalation in the exchanges of fire across, and increasingly beyond, the Blue Line, the Special Coordinator said these repeated violations of resolution 1701 increase the risks of miscalculation and further deterioration of an already critical situation.