Negotiations are underway between Hizbullah and al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front on the release of three Hizbullah members taken captive in Syria’s Reef Aleppo around two months ago, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that the Nusra leadership has tasked Abou Malek al-Talleh, the so-called emir of al-Nusra in Qalamun, with carrying out the negotiations.

Relations between al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea have become more complicated after the head of the LF endorsed his long-time rival for the presidential elections.

Newspapers published on Thursday said that a meeting was held by Hariri’s advisor Nader Hariri and LF official Melhem Riachi at the Center House a day earlier.

Israel's military has conducted a drill to prepare for simultaneous combat along its northern frontier with Syria and Lebanon.

It said Wednesday the two-week exercise that combined air, ground and naval forces was aimed at "preparing troops for a long-term multi-front conflict."

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted Wednesday that Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun has the ability to endorse “centrist” policies if elected president more than rival nominee MP Suleiman Franjieh, the head of the Marada Movement.

“We chose Aoun for the presidency because Franjieh is a 'genuine' member of March 8 while the General is only allied with them and has the ability to move to the center more than Franjieh,” said Geagea during an interview on MTV.

Around three years after media reports said Lebanese investigators were probing phone calls between ex-minister Michel Samaha and Syrian President Bashar Assad's adviser Buthaina Shaaban, the recordings were leaked to local TV networks on Wednesday.

The audio leaks follow several videos that were broadcast in the wake of Samaha's release on bail from prison under a controversial Military Court ruling that has sent shockwaves across the country.

Cooperation between Lebanese and Swedish security authorities has resulted in the arrest of a major drug network that had been involved in smuggling cocaine between several countries, the Internal Security Forces announced Wednesday.

It said a 43-year-old Swedish man of Lebanese descent was arrested on January 2 at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport upon his arrival from Brazil after he tried to smuggle 14 kilograms of pure cocaine into the country, noting that the quantity “would weigh 50 kilos after manufacturing.”

Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb stated on Wednesday that he will reveal his stance over Monday's Maarab meeting after carrying out the necessary consultations.

He said after holding talks with Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel: “We reject political extortion over the presidential elections.”

The Shin Bet said on Wednesday that Israeli forces thwarted a shooting attack in the Tulkarm area of the northern West Bank led by Palestinian Mahmoud Zaaloul who was directed by the son of Hizbullah leader Jawad Nasrallah, Israeli media reports stated.

Forces "apprehended a terror cell funded and guided by Hizbullah," an Israeli army statement said, adding the cell was "plotting a shooting attack".

General Security said on Wednesday that it has arrested a Lebanese and several Syrians on suspicion of belonging to a network linked to the Islamic State extremist group.

The directorate-general of the agency said in a communique that general security officers arrested the Lebanese and four Syrian members of the network for belonging to a terrorist group.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil held talks with Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel on Wednesday as part of his meetings with the country's different factions to garner support for the candidacy of his father-in-law Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun for the presidency.

After meeting with Gemayel at Kataeb's headquarters in Beirut's Saifi district, Bassil hoped there would be “real partnership” among the Lebanese factions following Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea's endorsement of Aoun's candidacy on Monday.