Samir Geagea, Hezbollah's fiercest political opponent in Lebanon, spoke to Reuters on Thursday at his mountain home and party headquarters in Maarab, north of Beirut, as Israel carried out waves of strikes on areas Hezbollah holds sway.

Report says losses concentrated in commerce, tourism, hospitality and agriculture, in addition to damage to physical structures; final costs expected to be far higher

The World Bank says the Israel-Hezbollah war has cost Lebanon $8.5 billion in physical damages and economic losses. Housing has borne the brunt of the destruction with nearly 100,000 units damaged.

Plumes of smoke rose over Beirut, while airstrikes and artillery shelling inflicted heavy damage on buildings in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that an unconditional cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel is "the first priority," calling for intensifying international and Arab efforts to prevent a large-scale war.

Israel will attack any attempt to bring weapons to Hezbollah from Syria, Israel's military spokesperson said on Thursday. "We are identifying rockets and other weapons that Hezbollah is launching at Israeli territory that were manufactured in Syria,