Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi on Thursday announced that he has banned two pro-Bahraini opposition rallies that had been scheduled to be held at a Lebanese hotel.

In a statement, Mawlawi said the two events had been scheduled to be held on February 11 and 14 at the al-Saha Hotel near Beirut airport.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the 2022 state budget during a session at the Baabda Palace.

Speaking at a press conference after the session, Prime Minister Najib Miqati said the budget’s revenues are expected to be LBP 39,000 billion and its expenditure is expected to be LBP 47,000 billion.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, has visited southern Lebanon including Sidon, Bissariye, Sarafand and Amraa.

Senior Hizbullah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq on Thursday stressed that his party’s “clear and decisive stance” is against the postponement of the parliamentary elections.

“This stance cannot be distorted or misinterpreted,” he added.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday called on all Lebanese to “cooperate with the government in its clear and difficult mission,” which is to “halt the collapse and work on finalizing a recovery plan that puts Lebanon on the course of stability.”

He added that the government “will oversee the organization of timely elections” seeing as it is “a chance for change,” noting that “launching a national program for economic recovery after completing the talks with the IMF would put the country on the track of strategic recovery.”

Families of the victims of last year’s explosion in Beirut’s port stormed Thursday the Justice Palace in Beirut, as they protested "towards justice."

Holding photos of their loved ones and Lebanese flags, the families rallied on Thursday morning outside the Justice Palace to urge a faster court decision regarding recusal lawsuits obstructing the investigation into the blast.

Lebanon is expecting decisive results "within weeks" concerning the maritime border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel, an informed Lebanese source said.

The source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Thursday, that the ambiance is "very positive" and conclusive results are expected to be reached "within weeks."

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein has urged Lebanese authorities to settle a maritime border dispute with Israel, saying it was the "last minute" for an agreement that could facilitate hydrocarbon exploration.

"I think that we’re at the moment of narrowing those gaps towards a deal," Hochstein told LBCI in an interview. 

"Where there's a will, there's a way," the U.S. embassy in Lebanon tweeted Wednesday, describing a meeting between U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein and Army Commander Joseph Aoun as fruitful.

U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein arrived in Lebanon Tuesday and met today, Wednesday, with Aoun.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday stressed that Lebanon “must not remain to be a missile launchpad” nor “an enemy of its neighborhood.”