Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has lauded the latest stances of Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil regarding the presidential crisis.

“Bassil spoke of consensus and has supported dialogue with my mechanism and under my chairmanship, and in this regard Jebran is better than the others,” Berri told al-Jadeed television.

Israeli strikes targeting a convoy of tankers in northeastern Lebanon late Monday killed three members of Hezbollah, an NGO and a military source told AFP.

Lebanon's Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in the eight months since the Gaza war began, triggered by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack.

Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone on Monday, while the Israeli military confirmed a drone had been downed, amid near-daily cross-border attacks between the Iran-backed group and its arch-foe.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in the eight months since the Gaza war began, triggered by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil is seeking to create a so-called “third parliamentary force” that would elect a new president, media reports said.

“Bassil wants this parliamentary force to turn into a kingmaker in the negative parliamentary equation, after he paved the way for it by holding both the Lebanese Forces and Hezbollah responsible for the delay in launching dialogue and electing a new president,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Monday.

The Lebanese Forces on Monday hit back at remarks by Speaker Nabih Berri, stressing that the “consultations” that he is calling for are not “obligatory as he is saying.”

“There is not any constitutional text that says that ‘consultations are the obligatory pathway’ and we call on Speaker Berri and others to abide by the constitution and its texts,” the LF’s media department added in a statement.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said there is no backing down from presidential consultations.

Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Monday, that consultations are "obligatory" to break the presidential deadlock, accusing "some" parties of obstructing the election of a president.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Monday held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, as part of a series of meetings he has launched to discuss the presidential crisis.

“We agreed that consensus would be much better than election and what’s important is to secure the success of the presidential tenure alongside securing the election itself,” Bassil said after the meeting.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh has called for “accepting the principle of dialogue and agreeing on a full package” or “going to elections between the two main political camps in the country,” noting that he and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea would represent the two camps in such an election.

“We would congratulate the winner,” he added, noting that such an approach would “restore the prestige of the presidential vote, the presidential race and the presidency itself.”

Hezbollah targeted Monday several Israeli posts, in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanese villages.

The group said it attacked with suicide drones a command center east of the Mediterranean seaside town of Nahariya, in response to strikes on the southern border villages of Aitaroun and Markaba that killed two Hezbollah members Saturday.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has kicked off an initiative related to the presidential vote by meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

“We are carrying out an effort to agree on a consensual president based on two conditions: building the state and protecting Lebanon, and these individuals are present if we truly want to elect a president,” Bassil said after the meeting.