Almost 70 fighters have been killed in the two-week-old battle between pro-government forces and Islamist rebels for control of Zabadani on Syria's border with Lebanon, a monitoring group said Monday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 46 rebels and 21 members of Hizbullah fighting on the government side have died since pro-regime forces entered the town of Zabadani on July 4.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi held talks on Monday with the family of slain stabbing victim George al-Rif, condemning the “unjustified” crime.

He stressed the need to keep the issue “away from politics and petty personal interests.”

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq kicked off on Monday a trip to France where he is scheduled to meet with a number of security and political officials, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

It said that he will begin his visit by holding talks with security officials to discuss coordination in a number of fields, especially combating terrorism.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea continued on Monday his visit to Saudi Arabia by holding talks with head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri.

The two officials met in the city of Jeddah, said LBCI television.

Progressive Socialist party chief Walid Jumblat stressed on Monday that Lebanon will not be able to confront the financial challenges if the waste of state funds is not controlled.

“Lebanon will not be able to confront the economic and financial challenges if it does not pull itself together and conduct radical and urgent reforms to stop the waste of money in various sectors mainly the energy sector, customs, ministries and several others,” he said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website.

A man committed suicide on Monday after failing to murder his wife, reported MTV.

It said that Wahan Toufoulian fired five shots at his wife before turning the gun on himself.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim returned over the weekend from a trip to Doha where he discussed with Qatari officials the finishing touches of a deal to release the servicemen abducted by jihadists in 2014, reported As Safir on Monday.

He told the daily that the “general framework of an exchange deal” was reached.

The Israeli army staged patrols alongside the border with Lebanon on Monday as a reconnaissance aircraft flew over the occupied Shebaa Farms, the state-run National News Agency reported.

At around 10:30, the Israeli troops patrolled areas alongside the borderline from the axis of Wadi al-Aasal all the way to the outskirts of al-Ghajar and Abbasiyyeh, NNA said.

The next cabinet session set to discuss the decision-making mechanism faces a number of thorny issues that need to be addressed in light of the closure of the Naameh landfill and the protests of the families of Jbeil and Hbaline stopping dump-trucks from entering the landfill, al-Anwar daily reported on Monday.

Residents of the town of Naameh south of Beirut staged on Friday a sit-in near the landfill after the last dump truck left the facility following the expiry of the deadline for its closure.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea held talks Sunday evening with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz at the al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.

The meeting tackled “the latest developments in the Lebanese arena,” the kingdom's news agency SPA reported.