Israeli warplanes on Monday carried out a fresh wave of strikes on the southern town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, after Israeli strikes in the Nabatieh region killed 18 people over the past 36 hours.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has responded to criticism from Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea as to perceived sidelining of Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji by saying that “the constitution stipulates that the Council of Ministers is the one that sets the government’s general policy in all fields, including foreign policy, while each minister is responsible for managing the affairs of their ministry and implementing this policy within their powers.”

“Hence, the foreign policy of the Lebanese state is not the policy of a person or ministry in isolation from the government,” Salam noted.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has noted that “the dawn of sovereignty has undoubtedly broken” in Lebanon, vowing that the LF and its allies “will not allow anyone to obstruct its emergence, whether through bullying the state and the free, sovereign Lebanese, or through appeasement, procrastination, stalling, and patchwork solutions.”

The state should be “sovereign over its land and its decisions,” stressed Geagea in an annual speech commemorating the “Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance.”

Justice Minister Adel Nassar announced Monday that Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar has concluded his investigations and referred the file to the Public Prosecutor's Office for its review, paving the way for the indictment.

“We expect this stage to be completed during or towards the end of October, a crucial step towards uncovering the truth and achieving justice in one of the most painful cases for the Lebanese people," Nassar wrote on X.

Israel's air force carried out two airstrikes early Monday on a southern Lebanese village, killing at least 11 people and wounding others, including women, children and medics, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

Monday's strikes came amid a new round of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah despite a truce reached more than two months ago. The strikes also came days after Israel's military said it is in "operational control" of the strategic Ali Taher hill that overlooks several villages as well as main roads leading to the city of Nabatieh.

Israel on Monday accused Hezbollah of repeatedly violating a ceasefire agreement in recent days, as Lebanese state media reported 11 killed in overnight Israeli strikes in a southern village.

President Joseph Aoun urged Washington and the international community to help stop Israeli attacks, which killed at least seven people on Sunday despite a truce and a framework deal aimed at halting the violence.

Israel said it had targeted Hezbollah operatives and sites in response to a drone attack a day earlier by the Iran-backed group on its troops in the vicinity of a strategic south Lebanon ridge.

Lebanon's health ministry said four people were killed on Sunday in strikes which Israel said it carried out after Hezbollah had launched drones at its soldiers in south Lebanon, the latest escalation amid a fragile truce.

The Israeli army claimed Saturday that it struck Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure a day earlier in response to an explosive drone that was allegedly launched by Hezbollah but caused no casualties.

An Associated Press photographer who visited the village of Kfar Rumman on Friday saw no sign of Israeli military presence on the strategic Ali al-Taher hill, a day after Israel announced seizing "operational control" of the ridge.