President Joseph Aoun’s meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday was “successful and positive” and the two men discussed “all files,” U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said.

President Joseph Aoun received a phone call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Presidency said, during a visit by the president to the United States.

Israeli warplanes conducted mock raids Monday over Lebanon's northern border, Akkar's heights and al-Hermel.

In the south of the country, drones dropped stun bombs on al-Mansouri and Marjaayoun, and Israeli forces carried out a massive explosion in the town of Kfartebnit.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press briefing that Lebanon must be run by a legitimate government, "not Hezbollah, not Iran".

"You defeat and replace Hezbollah with a government that is strong enough to be the sole force of arms in the country, basically with the security of Lebanon in the hands of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and a government that’s able to provide prosperity for its citizens."

President Joseph Aoun met Sunday in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, ahead of his meeting Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump.

A State Dept. statement said Aoun and Rubio discussed "the implementation of the Trilateral Framework" that also involves Israel, with the Secretary commending "the courage of the Government of Lebanon, under President Aoun's leadership, for their determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace." 

The Lebanese military has said that a soldier was killed "as a result of the explosion of a suspicious object in an army vehicle" in the southern town of Mansouri.

Tears streamed down south Lebanon resident Fatima Hajj Ali's face as she stared at a host of keys hanging like windchimes from the ceiling of a Beirut museum -- each one symbolizing a home, like her own, destroyed by Israel.

President Joseph Aoun has arrived in Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, after the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks wrapped up in Italy.

It is the first trip to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Suleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009.

Hezbollah has held a mass funeral for dozens of people, most of them fighters killed in the most recent fighting with Israel, in southern Lebanon's Majdal Selm.

The Iran-backed group does not reveal the number of fighters it has lost in the latest war.

President Joseph Aoun on Saturday left Beirut for Washington, where he is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, the Lebanese presidency said, after talks between Lebanon and Israel wrapped up in Italy.

Aoun will hold discussions "with several American officials on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire," particularly in Lebanon's south, as well as on "the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies," the presidency said.