BEIRUT: Lebanon鈥檚 President Joseph Aoun has urged France to back demands for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese border areas occupied during the recent conflict.

In a meeting with the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Herve Magro, on Wednesday, Aoun also called for 鈥減ressure to be applied to halt daily violations and to work toward the release of Lebanese prisoners within the specified timeframe.鈥�

Israeli forces are still entrenched behind an earthen barrier created a week ago west of the town of Mays Al-Jabal, while Lebanese troops are deployed dozens of meters away.

Several houses in the town of Rab El Thalathine in the Marjeyoun district were destroyed by Israeli troops a day after homes in the town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district were also razed.

Israeli forces are positioned behind earthen barriers and barbed wire, with a warning sign reading 鈥淒o not approach,鈥� at the entrances of Yaroun and Maroun Al-Ras.

They are supported by snipers hidden among the trees, while elements of the Lebanese army are deployed just meters away.

Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from the border area on Feb, 18, following a 23-day extension of the withdrawal deadline with the approval of the US.

Wajih Zahwi, 7, from Majdal Selem, on Wednesday died from head injuries sustained in an Israeli military drone strike on Jan. 29 while civilians were returning to their villages. The attack was in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The border municipality of Ramiyah said that it was 鈥渋nformed by the military intelligence that two army posts will be established within the town. Additionally, efforts will be made to open several secondary roads, and on Friday, engineering teams from the army will conduct surveys and inspections for remnants of the Israeli aggression in the area.鈥�

Meanwhile, a foreign photojournalist working in the Middle East claimed that she was threatened by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.

Courtney Bonneau posted on Instagram that at around 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, while she was in a building in the town of Taybeh in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army has redeployed, the Israeli army called UNIFIL to inform her and another photographer that if they did not vacate the premises, they would be shot.

As part of military and security agencies鈥� efforts to combat illegal weapons, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces said that it had seized a four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by a 43-year-old Lebanese man, whose name was not disclosed.

Weapons and ammunition were found after the vehicle was stopped at the Dahr Al-Baydar checkpoint on the Bekaa-Beirut road. The man admitted bringing the weapons from Syria, and another Lebanese man accompanying him was also arrested.

Military police on Tuesday also intercepted a weapons shipment in Wardaniyeh that was being moved from a Hezbollah warehouse to an undisclosed location.

In a related development, Iran鈥檚 Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran鈥檚 Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has designated Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem as his 鈥渞epresentative for Hussainiyah affairs and religious administration in Lebanon.鈥�

Qassem is believed to have remained in Iran since assuming his new role.

His appointment was announced by Hezbollah on Oct. 29, following the death of Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs.

Nasrallah had served as Khamenei鈥檚 representative in Lebanon before his death.