Maronite Patriarch Beshra al-Rahi said Monday after meeting with President Joseph Aoun that the relation between Bkerki and Baabda is very good and negotiations with Israel are better than war threats.

"I have no fears (of a new war) and we are now in the time of diplomacy and negotiations," al-Rahi told reporters in a short press conference after the meeting.

U.S. President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night and urged him to shift gradually from offensive operations and escalation threats in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria to diplomacy and confidence-building measures, senior officials told Israel's Ynet news portal.

"The shift, Trump argued, is necessary to advance the civilian stage of his '20-Point Plan' for Gaza and to work toward a stable, long-term end to hostilities, with the possibility of additional normalization agreements," the officials said.

The Lebanese Army on Saturday announced the arrest of six individuals accused of attacking a UNIFIL patrol in Bint Jbeil in south Lebanon.

A group of U.S. members of Congress have sent a letter to President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah, saying the process “must begin now, even by force if necessary.”

The lawmakers said Lebanon committed under the November 2024 ceasefire to launch a gradual process to dismantle Hezbollah’s military structure and restore state authority across the country, but argued that “empty promises and partial measures that fall short of disarmament are nowhere near enough.”

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said Friday that the inclusion of a civilian Lebanese representative in the Mechanism committee is “a measure that clearly violates all the previous official statements and stances that had called for halting the enemy’s hostilities prior to involving any civilian in the Mechanism.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri urged a United Nations Security Council delegation on Friday to pressure Israel to respect a year-old ceasefire and to halt its one-sided war on Lebanon.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems "strategic".

Lebanon has moved toward negotiations with Israel to spare the war and crisis-hit country further violence -- and not to please the international community, President Joseph Aoun told Friday a visiting United Nations Security Council delegation.

Aoun said that Lebanon is convinced that wars cannot lead to positive results and that only negotiations can provide stability and security and end the Lebanese people's suffering.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has called for direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, noting that Hezbollah cannot be disarmed by force.

He also voiced major concern over a renewal of Israel’s war on Lebanon.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the mission of the civilian who was included in a committee monitoring the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is more important than the name.

"The important thing for me is what he will do," Berri told online news website Asas Media in remarks published Friday, adding that what is important is that former Lebanese Ambassador to the United States, Simon Karam succeed in ending Israel's violations and occupation, and in returning the Lebanese prisoners.

A delegation of the U.N. Security Council and U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus met Friday with President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. The three leaders urged the delegation to pressure Israel to respect a year-old ceasefire.

Aoun said after the meeting, in a statement on the X platform, that the delegation expressed its support for stability in Lebanon through the implementation of international resolutions, and the willingness to help in supporting the Lebanese Army, completing its deployment, and implementing the state's monopoly on arms.