Political aide to Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hussein Khalil, has contacted Prime Minister Saad Hariri to thank him on behalf of Nasrallah for committing to calm rhetoric, local media reported Sunday.

Al-Hayat on Sunday also reported that Hezbollah and Hariri’s Mustaqbal Movement have vowed to end political bickering.

It said head of Hezbollah’s Coordination and Liaison Committee Wafiq Safa has informed a source close to Hariri that the Shiite group has decided to refrain from responding to political statements.

Safa also reportedly said that Hezbollah officials and MPs were given orders to end political bickering.

Al-Hayat said Mustaqbal Movement officials and MPs also received similar orders.

Tension between between the two leaders started by Nasrallah . In his speech last Friday on the occasion of Jerusalem day Nasrallah attacked what he said was political exploitation of the August 24 clashes in Beirut between supporters of Hezbollah and Al-Ahbash, saying that “a knife was put in Hezbollah’s wound and twisted.”

In his Friday Iftar speech, Hariri responded to Nasrallah’s remarks by saying, “I am not the one who is carrying the knife because I don’t know how to carry one. I only know how to carry a pen. I am the son of [former Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri and I will remain modest”

Al-Hayat said Hariri has informed MP Walid Jumblat in a telephone call that the prime minister was being “targeted” by Nasrallah and statements criticizing him were “no longer acceptable.”

During an Iftar dinner in Qoreitem on Saturday, Hariri called for calm and dialogue , saying that “that political and media rhetoric following his remarks on Friday evening reached a level he had hoped would be avoided”.

During an Iftar on Sunday Hariri said that “in this country we have to know how to all live together under the shelter of the state and abide by our constitution.”

He reiterated his commitment to polite speech and calm dialogue.