Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Thursday reminded that caretaker PM Najib Mikati had said that there was “no need to form a government,” describing it as a “dangerous constitutional precedent.”

“He set the condition of obtaining (our) confidence in order to form the government, although his designation did not win (our) confidence, which means that he had decided not to form a government,” Bassil said after a parliamentary session dedicated to discussing ex-President Michel Aoun’s letter on the legitimacy of the caretaker cabinet.

Parliament recommended Thursday that cabinet continue its work in caretaker capacity after it discussed a letter by ex-President Michel Aoun concerning the resignation of the caretaker cabinet.

The caretaker cabinet can only convene in extraordinary cases, parliament said.

A decade of appalling civil war has left Syria fragmented and in ruins but one thing crosses every front line: a drug called captagon.

The stimulant -- once notorious for its association with Islamic State fighters -- has spawned an illegal $10 billion industry that not only props up the pariah regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but many of his enemies.

Parliament convened Thursday to discuss a letter by ex-President Michel Aoun concerning the resignation of the caretaker cabinet.

The session will not be broadcast to the public, and media reports expected it to be fiery.

Lebanon has secured "American guarantees" that its maritime border deal with Israel cannot be easily scrapped should Benjamin Netanyahu return to the Israeli premiership, Beirut's chief negotiator said.

Israel and Lebanon struck a U.S.-brokered sea border agreement last month that opens up lucrative offshore gas fields for the neighbors that remain technically at war.

U.S. mediators tried for more than a decade to broker a maritime border agreement between Lebanon and Israel. Finally, the elements fell into place for a landmark deal between two countries officially — and sometimes actively — at war since 1948.

Russia's war in Ukraine this year and Europe's resulting energy crisis have increased demand for natural gas, which the deal will enable Lebanon and Israel to extract from the Mediterranean Sea.

The closing statement of the 31st Arab Summit that was held in Algeria on Wednesday said the Arab countries “reiterate their solidarity with Lebanon.”

The Arab League voices support for Lebanon “to preserve its security and backs its steps to extend its sovereignty over its territory on land and at sea,” the statement added.

The International Support Group for Lebanon on Wednesday noted with concern the “continued lack of cooperation among Lebanese political actors that has precipitated a presidential vacuum, at a time when Lebanon most requires quick and decisive action to address its dire economic, financial and humanitarian crises.”

“More than ever, Lebanon needs fully functioning state institutions that can pursue comprehensive reforms with a strategic vision that generates substantive change for the public good,” the ISG said in a statement.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan urged Wednesday for the election of a new Lebanese president who is able to unify the country.

Bin Farhan stressed, in a speech in the Arab summit in Algeria, his country's keenness on the sovereignty of the Lebanese state.

Caretaker PM Najib Mikati on Wednesday urged the Arab nations to “rescue” Lebanon and not to “abandon it.”

“The Lebanon you know has changed. Yes, it has changed. The glowing beacon has been extinguished, the port that used to be considered the Orient’s gateway has exploded, and the airport that is considered a convergence platform is having its lights turned off due to fuel shortages,” Mikati said, in a speech before the 31st Arab Summit in Algeria.