The Lebanese Army on Wednesday stopped the work of an Israeli bulldozer by force after it tried to cross the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line, al-Manar TV reported.

Lebanese and Israeli troops had earlier gone on alert on both sides of the border after the bulldozer breached the Blue Line.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed Wednesday after a caretaker Cabinet session that he is not a sectarian person, after the meeting was boycotted by several Christian ministers affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement.

“What everyone should understand is that when Cabinet convenes, its aim is not to worsen the rift but rather to serve the citizen,” Mikati said.

After being accused of seeking partitioning, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Wednesday that "all the Lebanese are our people."

"We will discuss the current political structure with others," Geagea added, describing the current political structure as a "failure."

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has hit out at Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil over the files of the presidential vote and the caretaker cabinet.

“We understand that some religious leaders are practicing political and media pressure on the political forces represented in parliament to expedite the presidential election, but one must refrain from sectarian incitement,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech, in an apparent jab at al-Rahi.

A French judicial delegation probing the death of two French citizens in the Beirut port blast met Wednesday with lead investigator into the blast Judge Tarek Bitar, media reports said.

The delegation also met with Attorney General Judge Sabbouh Suleiman, who is tasked by the public prosecution to oversee the file of the port.

On New Year's Eve, a small boat carrying more than 230 would-be migrants, most of them Syrians, broke down and began to sink after setting sail from the northern coast of Lebanon.

Since the collapse of Lebanon's economy in 2019, an increasing number of people -- mostly Syrian and Palestinian refugees but also Lebanese citizens -- have tried to leave the country and reach Europe by sea. The attempts often turn deadly.

European investigators have questioned two witnesses for eight hours in Beirut as part of a probe into Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salemeh and his brother, a judicial official told AFP.

The caretaker cabinet convened Wednesday for the second time at the Grand Serail to discuss the electricity file and other items.

Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar attended the session despite a decision by the Free Patriotic Movement to boycott any caretaker cabinet session.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat criticized Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea's call for reconsidering the state's structure.

"What does he mean by reconsidering the Lebanese structure," Jumblat asked, in remarks published Tuesday in al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The ongoing presidential vacuum might last for more than a year due to the political deadlock, a senior official told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.