Hezbollah "has recovered and is now ready" to confront Israel in case of an attack on Lebanon, the group's leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a televised interview.

The interview was recorded on June 11 but only broadcast Tuesday on Lebanese pan-Arabist news channel al-Mayadeen.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to hold direct negotiations with Hezbollah in parallel with Washington’s efforts with the Lebanese state, a Western diplomatic source in Jerusalem said.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has said that he expects a “breakthrough” in the talks with Lebanon about the U.S. paper related to Hezbollah’s arms, reforms and the relation with Syria, adding that President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Nawaf Salam have been “candid” and “honest” about their desire to cooperate.

The Israeli army said Wednesday its troops have recently destroyed alleged Hezbollah arms and infrastructure in Jabal Blat and al-Labbouneh in south Lebanon in "special, targeted operations".

In a statement, the Israeli army said it identified Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure in several areas in south Lebanon and destroyed them to "prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in the area."

An Israeli drone strike on a car in the Sidon district town of Babliyeh on killed one person overnight Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.

An Israeli drone on Tuesday bombed a car in the al-Ayrouniyeh area near Tripoli, the first strike in north Lebanon since last year’s war, with the Israeli army saying the strike targeted a key Hamas member.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Tuesday in Ain el-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss the general situations, the political and military developments and the outcome of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s visit to Lebanon, the National News Agency said.

One of the Lebanese officials who met with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack on Monday has admitted that “Hezbollah is clearly trying to gain time,” MTV reported on Tuesday.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s visit to Lebanon opened the “window of diplomacy,” after a tense atmosphere that preceded his arrival in Beirut to receive the official Lebanese response to a three-point U.S. paper that most importantly contained a path leading to Hezbollah’s disarmament, a media report said.

Hezbollah has entered a state of maximum alert on its various military fronts in anticipation of a possible Israeli strike in the coming hours or days, unnamed sources told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel.