The army on Friday announced the arrest of two men who assaulted the imam of the mosque of the Mt. Lebanon town of Chbaniyeh in an incident apparently related to the sectarian violence between Druze and Sunnis in neighboring Syria.

President Joseph Aoun has stressed that the Lebanese Army is doing a “mighty job” and that its operations are still ongoing in the area south of the Litani River, despite the “geographic challenges and limited capabilities.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held talks Wednesday in Ain el-Tineh with the new head of the ceasefire monitoring committee, U.S. major general Michael Leeney, who was accompanied by the committee’s outgoing head Major General Jasper Jeffers.

President Joseph Aoun has stressed that “the decision of removing arms will be implemented across Lebanon but the priority is for the South.”

Major General Jasper Jeffers, Chairman of the Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism, met Wednesday with Lebanese and UNIFIL leadership in Beirut, accompanied by Major General Michael Leeney.

“Major General Leeney is joining the Mechanism to provide a full-time senior U.S. military leader in Beirut to continue the strong relationship between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and U.S. military,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel carried out a strike in Syria on Wednesday on an "extremist group" preparing to attack members of the Druze community in the Damascus region.

President Joseph Aoun traveled Wednesday to the United Arab Emirates for a two-day official visit.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed Tuesday that “the attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs and the other Israeli attacks represent a violation of the cessation of hostilities arrangements,” adding that “it is necessary to activate the monitoring mechanism to put an end to these attacks.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called Tuesday on the United States to help Lebanon achieve stability.

"It is in the interest of the United States for Lebanon to remain a stable and secure country, and therefore it must help Lebanon achieve this goal," Aoun said.

An Israeli drone strike targeted an open area near a gas station in the southern town of Aitaroun on Monday, causing no casualties, the state-run National News Agency reported.