Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Hajj Hassan told AFP on Thursday that the Lebanese government's decision to hold direct negotiations with Israel was a "grave error", urging authorities to stop making concessions to Israel and the United States.

Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri has made no secret of his "displeasure and resentment" at President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam's decision to engage in direct negotiations with Israel, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Israeli army is preparing for a ceasefire in Lebanon expected to begin at 7:00 P.M. local time, Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted Israeli army officials as saying.

Visiting British Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer on Thursday called for a ceasefire in Lebanon where Israel and Hezbollah are at war, and welcomed direct talks between Israel and Lebanon.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 after militant group Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in support of its backer Iran. Israel has responded with huge strikes and a ground invasion in the country's south.

Ambassador of the United States to Lebanon Michel Issa has met with President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio, the U.S. Embassy said on the X platform.

The meeting took place Wednesday, a day after Lebanon and Israel held a high-level face-to-face meeting in Washington -- the first such negotiation since 1993.

Iran's prominent speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told his Lebanese counterpart on Thursday that a ceasefire in Lebanon was "as important" as in Iran, according to a statement posted on Telegram.

In talks to end the war between Iran and the United States, Ghalibaf said Tehran has "been striving to compel our enemies to establish a permanent ceasefire in all the conflict zones, in accordance with the agreement. For us, a ceasefire in Lebanon is just as important as a ceasefire in Iran," he said, in a phone conversation with Nabih Berri.

President Joseph Aoun on Thursday stressed the importance of a ceasefire before any direct negotiations with Israel, ahead of possible talks with Israel's leader that Beirut has not confirmed will take place.

"The ceasefire requested by Lebanon with Israel is the natural starting point for direct negotiations between the two countries," Aoun said in a statement.

The Israeli military carried out two strikes against a key bridge in the south of Lebanon on Thursday, destroying it, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

"Enemy aircraft carried out two consecutive strikes on the Qasmieh bridge, the last bridge between the Tyre and Sidon regions, completely destroying it," the NNA said.

Israeli troops were trying to advance from the occupied Shebaa farms into Debbine in south Lebanon after violent strikes and artillery shelling on the southern town.

The Israeli army also targeted Thursday Hebbarieh and Kfarshouba, while Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several drone and rocket attacks targeting soldiers in Khiam, Taybeh, Odaiseh, Bint Jbeil, Naqoura, Aitaroun, Bayada, Rob Tlatine and Qantara in south Lebanon and troops and military posts in north Israel including Ras al-Naqoura, Kfar Giladi, Nahariya, Carmiel, Peqi'in, Kiryat Shmona, Misgav Am, Hanita, Kfar Yuval and Margaliot.

Lebanon said Thursday it is "not aware" of any upcoming contact with Israel, after U.S. President Donald Trump said the leaders of Lebanon and Israel would speak on Thursday.

In Lebanon, those negotiations have drawn backlash from Hezbollah and its supporters. Al Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper that is closely allied with Hezbollah, declared the government to be a "regime of shame" in its front-page report about Tuesday's talks in Washington.