Syrian refugees are fleeing the crackdown in their towns into villages in northern Lebanon before sunset and returning at dawn to escape the raids launched overnight on their homes, the pan-Arab daily Asharq Awsat reported on Tuesday.

Sources told the newspaper that “more than 100 families are emigrating at sunset every day and temporarily from al-Qusayr, Heit, Bouiet and al-Soummaqiyat to the towns of Akroum, al-Nousoub, Houlwas, el-Kneisse and Wadi Khaled.”

Seven people were injured after a wealthy businessman’s prestige prevented him from accepting that a person from a lower social status sit at a front row during a condolences prayer in the south, the National News Agency reported.

NNA quoted several witnesses in the town of Buyout al-Siyyad in Tyre as saying on Monday that businessman A.Z. viewed a decision by another man to sit at a row in front of him as a challenge.

Palestinian factions have taken precautionary measures to prevent the infiltration of Fatah al-Islam militants, who escaped from Roumieh prison over the weekend, into Palestinian camps in the north, the factions said in a statement.

They announced that joint security forces launched patrols at the Beddawi camp and closed all entrances to the shantytown.

A delegation of Syrian expatriates in Lebanon headed by Dr. Jamal al-Mohsen on Monday visited the HQ of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in downtown Beirut to deliver a letter addressed to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, state-run National News Agency reported.

“We, the members of the Syrian community in Lebanon, stress our absolute rejection of all forms of foreign interference in Syria’s domestic affairs and our adherence to the leadership of Mr. President Bashar Hafez al-Assad,” the delegation said in the letter.

A number of activists describing themselves as “independent intellectuals” on Monday staged a march in Beirut in solidarity with the Syrian people, state-run National News Agency reported.

Shouting slogans in support of the Syrian people, demonstrators marched from Beirut’s Mathaf district towards the government’s headquarters at the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut, amid tight security measures, NNA said.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied on Monday media reports that Lebanon had agreed to discuss the maritime border with Israel.

The Israeli Haaretz newspaper had recently reported United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon as saying that Lebanon and Israel agreed to discuss issues of maritime security through a tripartite mechanism and the possible assistance of local experts.

Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem accused on Sunday the Mustaqbal movement of being a militia, saying that it does not want to recognize Lebanon as a country of diverse sects.

He said during an iftar in the city of Baalbek: “The Mustaqbal party has not taken into consideration the situation in Lebanon and it believes that it has the right to monopolize the premiership.”

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel criticized on Monday the government’s conduct, pointing out the contradictory positions adopted by some of its members and accusing it of neglecting its duties.

He noted Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s announcement of his commitment to international agreements and justice, while other sides declared that no one will be able to apprehend suspects wanted by international law.

Amal movement and Hizbullah leaderships in southern Lebanon have stressed on dialogue as the only solution to Lebanon’s problems.

“The Lebanese have the single choice of dialogue to solve their problems,” the two allied parties said in a statement following an Iftar organized by Hizbullah in Nabatiyeh.

Lebanese politicians seem to be heading towards a new showdown over the issue of proportional representation in the 2013 parliamentary elections after Druze leader Walid Jumblat called for keeping the current electoral system.

During an Iftar held in the Shouf over the weekend, Jumblat said: “It would be better to postpone discussions of proportionality and keep the status quo to preserve diversity and plurality.”