Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati formed Tuesday a ministerial delegation that will head Wednesday to Syria to meet with Syrian authorities over the deadly earthquake.

Syrian state media and rescuers said at least 1,602 people have died in the earthquake and more than 3,600 have been injured across the country.

Lebanon's battered commercial banks on Tuesday closed their doors to customers in protest of a recent court ruling that forced one of the country's largest banks to pay out two of its depositors their trapped savings in cash.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon, which lobbies for the banks, released a statement calling the action an "open-ended strike" and criticized the court ruling, claiming it was detrimental to all depositors, because the banks cannot afford to pay out everyone else's savings in full.

A Lebanese Forces delegation led by MP Sethrida Geagea on Tuesday held talks in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Speaking after the meeting, Geagea called for the election of a “sovereign, reformist president as soon as possible.”

The Lebanese Civil Defense announced Tuesday that it will send a team of twenty members to Syria to provide emergency relief to the populations on the ground after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday.

The Lebanese Civil Defense members will participate in search and rescue operations.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday said “Hezbollah, today more than ever, wants to secure the election of its (presidential) candidate.”

“In its visits to independent MPs it is trying to collect votes, after having failed to convince (Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran) Bassil to elect (Marada Movement chief Suleiman) Franjieh,” Geagea said after a meeting for the Strong Republic bloc.

Residents in Lebanon on Monday felt a new 7.5-magnitude earthquake that jolted quake-hit Turkey.

The new tremor lasted for a few seconds in Lebanon, unlike the powerful overnight quake that lasted for 40 seconds and sent panicked residents onto the streets. The source of that tremor was a devastating and deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked southeast Turkey and northern Syria.

Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar on Monday postponed all interrogation sessions scheduled for this month in light of the “developing circumstances related to decisions issued by the state prosecutor” and to “preserve the integrity and proper conduct of the investigation.”

A session for the interrogation of ex-ministers Ghazi Zoaiter and Nouhad al-Mashnouq had been scheduled for today, Monday.

Lebanon has been ranked third in food price inflation, according to a study by the World Bank.

Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world. The countries affected most are in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia, the World Bank said in a statement.

The caretaker cabinet convened Monday for the third time as Lebanon entered a fourth month of presidential vacuum.

The session, boycotted by the Free Patriotic Movement ministers, will discuss aid to the education and health sectors, dubbed as "urgent" by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked Monday caretaker ministers Nasser Yassin and Ali Hamieh to contact the Turkish and Syrian authorities in order to provide emergency aid after the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday.

Mikati said, before a cabinet session, that Lebanon might send a rescue force from the army and the civil defense to Turkey to provide emergency relief to the populations on the ground.