Israeli troops detonated and demolished houses in Kfartebnit, Mays al-Jabal, Beit Yahoun and Kounine on Tuesday and shelled overnight Nabatieh al-Fawqa in south Lebanon.

On Monday, strikes targeted al-Mansouri and al-Zahrani region and demolitions were also carried out in several occupied border towns, including Arnoun, Kfartebnit, Bint Jbeil, Taybeh.

The Lebanese Army will be responsible for the pilot zones from which Israel will withdraw in south Lebanon, a U.S. official told U.S. news portal Axios.

On the road to south Lebanon's coastal town of Naqoura, an Israeli flag hung over the deep blue sea, a stone's throw away from a metallic grid marking the Israeli-announced "security zone".

"Turn around, you don't have permission to pass," an Israeli soldier said through a loudspeaker to a convoy of journalists, including AFP, who joined a Christian NGO on an organized tour of still-inhabited villages in the occupied area.

President Joseph Aoun is set to meet with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, as pressure builds for Beirut to disarm Hezbollah, Israel's key condition before withdrawing from south Lebanon.

It comes a day after the United States, which has sponsored negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, announced the start of the implementation of an agreement granting the Lebanese army control over "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon.

President Joseph Aoun will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday to wrap up a four-day visit to Washington, in a bid to bring about long-term calm in the war-torn country after months of war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Aoun's landmark meeting with Trump comes as Lebanon and Israel continue to hold rare direct talks mediated by Washington. Lebanon hopes they will result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently occupy, and for the Lebanese military to receive support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway.

Contacts are underway between the United States and several European countries to strengthen the verification mechanism for implementing the pilot zone arrangements in southern Lebanon, a diplomatic source said.

The United States on Monday announced the launch of the “pilot zone” process in south Lebanon.

Talks between President Joseph Aoun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio covered several topics, most notably the implementation of the framework agreement with Israel, providing full support to the Lebanese Army, and addressing the Lebanese government's program regarding investments, reconstruction, and the conferences required for this purpose, informed sources said.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri hopes a meeting set for Tuesday between President Joseph Aoun and U.S. President Donald Trump will yield positive results.

Berri told local news platform al-Afdal, in remarks published Monday, that he only cares about reaching a real solution, regardless of where that solution comes from.

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.