The Israeli army uprooted several trees that are located outside the technical fence on Lebanon's southern border and also stole the soil at the entrance of the town of Adaisseh, the state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday.

Two excavators carried out logging and uprooting trees outside the fence between Kfar Kila and Adaisseh with the support of a Merkava tank and a number of Humvees.

Syrian President Bashar Assad described on Tuesday as "legitimate" the presence of fighters from Hizbullah in Syria to back his forces against anti-regime gunmen.

"The difference (between Hizbullah and foreign anti-regime fighters) is legitimacy. Who invited Hizbullah to Syria?" Assad asked. 

Large crowds rallied Tuesday at Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square for a fourth day to denounce the government's performance, in a protest that remained largely peaceful despite minor scuffles with security forces.

Two people were injured as security forces used batons to push away protesters after some participants described as “infiltrators” hurled rocks and “molotov cocktails” at police, the Internal Security Forces and state-run National News Agency said.

Three people were killed in clashes overnight and into Tuesday morning between rival armed groups in Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, near the southern city of Sidon, medical sources told Agence France Presse

The fighting between the Jund al-Sham Islamist group and members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement prompted hundreds of residents to flee Ain el-Hilweh and shelter in nearby mosques.

Military Prosecutor Judge Dani al Zaani kicked off interrogations with security members and civilians who were arrested against the backdrop of the demonstrations in Downtown Beirut that turned into a war zone over the weekend leaving several injured, al-Joumhouria daily reported.

Some detainees were released after it became clear that they were not involved in the riots or attacks on the security forces, the National News Agency reported.

Thousands of protesters poured into Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square on Sunday demanding that the country's top politicians resign, hours after Prime Minister Tammam Salam hinted he might step down following violent protests triggered by a monthlong trash crisis.

The demonstrations, the largest in years, railed against the corruption and dysfunction that has brought about Lebanon's current political crisis. The country does not have a functioning cabinet or parliament, and hasn't had a president for more than a year.

Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun congratulated the Lebanese youth of the You Stink campaign who demonstrated “peacefully” on Saturday in Downtown Beirut.

“I congratulate the Lebanese youth who demonstrated peacefully and civilized yesterday, and have proven mature in demanding their rights and pressing livelihood matters,” said Aoun in a statement on Sunday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Sunday he was ready to meet with members of a growing movement protesting the country's trash crisis, and admitted that "excessive force" had been used against demonstrators.

Salam’s comments came in a press conference he held against the backdrop of Saturday’s clashes between security forces and activists of the anti-garbage demonstrators in Downtown Beirut.

Several neighborhoods in the southern city of Sidon, including al-Baassiri and al-Njasa neighborhoods, went under prolific sniper early on Sunday despite a cease-fire agreement overnight between the clashing parties.

The overnight clashes, which left 3 dead and 20 wounded, led to the outbreak of fires in homes and damage to properties and cars and had forced many Palestinians to flee to the city of Sidon.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said on Sunday that he refuses to be part of the “paralysis” governing the country and driving it to a total “collapse,” the Pan Arab al-Hayat daily said.

“The PM’s call for a cabinet convention on Thursday came out of his duty that he should not participate in the complete paralysis controlling the country and leading it to a breakdown,” visitors to Salam quoted him as saying.