A United Nations special rapporteur told AFP on Friday that deadly Israeli strikes on ostensibly civilian vehicles in Lebanon since last year's ceasefire could amount to war crimes, despite Israel's assertion they targeted Hezbollah members.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon in spite of the November 2024 truce, which sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed group that culminated in two months of open war.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday adopted a statement calling on Lebanon and Israel to respect the 2024 ceasefire agreement and for the instant implementation of U.N. resolutions 1559 and 1701, Al-Jazeera reported.

One person was killed in an Israeli drone strike Friday on a car in the southern town of Khirbet Selm.

The attack comes a day after Israel carried out fierce airstrikes across south Lebanon, in one of the heaviest bombing waves since the November ceasefire.

President Joseph Aoun has received a message calling for direct negotiations with Israel over the outstanding issues, diplomatic sources told Al-Jadeed TV.

Aoun, however, rejected direct negotiations, instead suggesting indirect talks, a refusal that “was not welcomed in Washington,” the sources added.

Senior military leaders from the United Nations and three countries gathered Oct. 15 in Naqoura, Lebanon for the 11th Pentalateral meeting where officials aligned priorities for “maintaining the cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Lebanese Hezbollah,” the U.S. Central Command said.

“Military leaders from the United States, France, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) discussed the LAF’s continued disarmament operations. The LAF has successfully removed nearly 10,000 rockets, almost 400 missiles, and over 205,000 unexploded ordnance fragments during the past year,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

A Lebanese judge on Friday ordered the release of the son of Libya's late leader Moammar Gadhafi on condition that he pay $11 million bail.

Hannibal Gadhafi has been imprisoned in Lebanon for a decade without being charged.

The Health Ministry announced overnight that nine new Tannourine mineral water samples taken from the Lebanese market have tested free of bacteria.

The Ministry however noted that it is yet to receive the results of tests conducted on water samples taken from the company’s production line.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Friday with President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss the latest developments in the country and the region, including repeated Israeli strikes on the south.

On Thursday, violent Israeli strikes in the south killed one person and wounded seven, with President Aoun saying that the strikes targeted "civilian facilities".

Iran on Friday condemned strikes by its arch-foe Israel on southern Lebanon, a stronghold of its close ally Hezbollah.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the strikes were a "blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity," in a statement.

Lebanon's economy minister has said that the country was turning the page to growth after years of crisis but called for greater reforms.

Lebanon expects five percent growth this year, the highest since 2011, Economy Minister Amer Bisat said Thursday as he attended fall meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.