Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari met Thursday with Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal and discussed with him the army's deployment in south Lebanon following a decision by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, starting in south Lebanon.

The meeting comes ahead of a visit by Saudi envoy Prince Yazid Bin Farhan with a Saudi delegation. Al-Jadeed said Bin Farhan will arrive next week in Beirut with a high-level official, while LBCI reported that the visit would start on Monday.

The Israeli military said it had launched a series of strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Thursday, shortly after issuing evacuation warnings to residents in parts of the area.

"The IDF (Israeli army) has begun a series of strikes on Hezbollah military targets in southern Lebanon," the military said.

Israeli warplanes on Thursday bombed an open area between the Tyre district towns of Toura and al-Abbasiyeh, killing one person and wounding three others, the National News Agency said.

The strike also sparked panic among students in the schools of Maarakeh, al-Abbasiyeh, Toura and Tyre, prompting several schools to suspend classes and creating major traffic congestion on Tyre’s entrances.

The Israeli army is preparing for a military move with the aim of weakening Hezbollah and bringing it and the Lebanese government to sign a “stable agreement” with Israel, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday.

The Israeli army is preparing for “the possibility that they will be required to enter combat in the near future,” the channel added, quoting senior Israeli officials as saying that "there are already existing plans."

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has said that there will be no war on Lebanon, sarcastically adding that the war has not stopped in the first place to restart.

"Has Israel stopped its war on Lebanon?" He asked al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Thursday.

Israeli is “not seeking a war in Lebanon” but “will not hesitate if it’s needed,” an Israeli official told Al-Arabiya on Wednesday.

“We welcome any negotiations with Lebanon but without preconditions,” the official added.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday affirmed that "reconstruction is a national priority for the entire government," during a meeting with a delegation from the Association of the Sons of the Southern Border Towns.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday disputed Speaker Nabih Berri’s announcement that Hezbollah “has fully committed to the stipulations of the ceasefire agreement” with Israel.

“This statement is totally untrue,” Geagea said, noting that the agreement’s clauses, especially its preamble, calls for the dissolution of all illegitimate armed groups.

Former U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs and ex-ambassador to Lebanon David Hale, who currently serves as a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington, has said that escalation between Israel and Hezbollah is possible but not inevitable.

Speaking about his recent trip to Israel in remarks to Lebanon’s Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, Hale said he did not hear from the Israeli officials that they want to harm Lebanon. He added that the Israelis have confidence in the abilities of the Lebanese leadership represented in President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

Any “Hezbollah attack” will be met with a “powerful response” from Israel and if Hezbollah crosses Israel’s “red lines,” a “broad operation” will be carried out in Lebanon, Israel’s Maariv newspaper quoted the Israeli army as saying on Wednesday.

“We’re currently carrying out a gradual exhaustion of Hezbollah’s capabilities and Hezbollah might reach the red line drawn by Israel within months,” the Israeli army reportedly added.