Judge Tarek Bitar, the lead investigative judge probing the Beirut port blast, stressed to the families of the victims on Tuesday that “pressures or threats will not push him to back down,” al-Jadeed TV reported.

“I will not back down from the Beirut port file unless I’m removed through the available legal means,” al-Jadeed quoted Bitar as telling the families during a meeting on Tuesday.

The Hizbullah-led March 8 forces have not completely closed the door in the face of the possibility of the resignation of Information Minister George Kordahi, highly informed sources said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the Gulf nations to “re-commit to Lebanon with the aim of achieving reforms and regaining the country’s sovereignty,” a French Presidency source said, shortly after Macron met Prime Minister Najib Miqati in Glasgow.

In their talks, Macron reiterated his support for Mqiati to “realize and implement the reforms program,” hoping the Lebanese political parties “will allow Cabinet to convene despite the crisis with the Gulf countries,” the source added, according to al-Liwaa newspaper.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati met Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the climate summit in Glasgow.

The meeting was attended by Environment Minister Nasser Yassine and Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Embattled Information Minister George Kordahi has announced that the diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia “has turned into an issue of national dignity.”

“I totally understand and feel the plight of the Lebanese abroad and their fear of any measures that might target them, but the matter has turned into an issue of national dignity,” Kordahi told ad-Diyar newspaper in remarks published Tuesday, in response to a question about possible further escalation by the Gulf countries.

Lebanon's oldest English-language daily newspaper laid off its entire staff and became the latest casualty in the collapse of the country's once-flourishing press, employees said Tuesday.

A televised remark by a game show host turned Cabinet minister in Lebanon about the war in Yemen has taken the country's crisis with Saudi Arabia to new depths.

Anger over George Kordahi's comments led to steps by Gulf Arab countries that further isolate Lebanon and threaten to split its new coalition government, tasked with halting the country's economic meltdown.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati met Monday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and the two discussed the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Qatari leader affirmed that he will dispatch Qatar’s Foreign Minister to Beirut soon to find ways to support Lebanon and to address the Lebanon-Gulf crisis.

Lebanon's foreign minister on Monday called for talks with Saudi Arabia to ease a spiraling diplomatic row sparked by remarks made by the Lebanese information minister on the Yemen war.

"Lebanon invites Saudi Arabia to engage in dialogue to solve all outstanding problems and not just the latest spat, so that the same crisis is not repeated every time," the minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, told AFP.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati received Monday a dose of European and American support, on the sideline of Glasgow U.N. climate summit, al-Jadeed television said.

American and European leaders, however, urged Miqati “to preserve stability and to adhere to the government's program.”