Hezbollah's leader has vowed not to disarm, saying the Lebanese government's decision to remove its weapons by the end of the year serves Israel's interests.

Israeli drones on Thursday dropped warning leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Shebaa, cautioning residents to stay away from designated areas near the border, local media said. The leaflets highlighted an area in red and urged locals not to approach it, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported.

Lebanon, plagued by impunity and lack of accountability, marked the fifth anniversary of the Beirut port explosion that devastated large parts of the capital.

People are buying water by the truckload in Beirut as the state supply faces its worst shortages in years, with the leaky public sector struggling after record-low rainfall and local wells running dry.

Joseph Aoun pledges accountability as US calls for independent judiciary 5 years after 2020 port explosion - Anadolu Ajansı

On Tuesday, a massive blast wave in Beirut, Lebanon's capital, killed at least 135 people and wounded 5,000 others. The impact of the devastating explosion is ongoing: More than 300,000 people's ...

Beirut is a destroyed city. It is like a real war zone." A woman carries a child as she walks past damaged shops following Tuesday's blast in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 5, 2020. AZIZ TAHER / REUTERS

Hizbullah’s grip on the state has never looked weaker. Many of its leaders are dead. Its armoury is depleted. It has lost control of Beirut airport. Its land corridor to Iran via Syria and Iraq has been cut off. And its supporters are angry at its failure to rebuild what Israel destroyed last year.