It has “become clear” that the Free Patriotic Movement and the opposition forces will not go to parliament to vote for Jihad Azour, because “they know that he is incapable of garnering more than 50 votes,” Shiite Duo sources said.

“They are using his nomination to exclusively burn Suleiman Franjieh’s card, because they believe that through that they would be paving the way for the endorsement of a third candidate,” the sources added, in remarks to ad-Diyar newspaper published Monday.

The Free Patriotic Movement, the Kataeb party, and the Lebanese Forces will likely announce their support for ex-minister Jihad Azour within 48 hours, al-Akhbar newspaper said.

The daily reported Monday that Maronite Patriarch has lauded the agreement and urged the three parties to announce their presidential candidate as soon as possible, so that he can discuss it this week in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the Lebanese file “in depth and in details” during their meeting in Jeddah on May 19, sources informed on the meeting said.

“This was reflected in Riyadh’s reversal of its previous veto on Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh’s election as president, before it lifted the veto and moved to negative neutrality,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

Hezbollah’s top lawmaker Mohammed Raad has launched a vehement verbal attack on the presidential candidate Jihad Azour and his supporters, in Hezbollah’s first public comments on the nomination of the ex-minister and current International Monetary Fund official.

“The candidate whose name is being circulated is a maneuver candidate whose mission is to confront the nomination of the candidate supported by us,” Raad said, calling on the rival camp to “stop wasting time.”

Israeli air strikes hit the Damascus region overnight Sunday, the Syrian defense ministry said, with a war monitor reporting five wounded in attacks on air defense sites that host Hezbollah fighters.

"At around 11:45 pm (2045 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack," the defense ministry said.

Senior Hezbollah official Sayyed Hashem Safieddine on Sunday emphasized that “reality obligates that a (new) president can only be reached through consensus.”

The Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and ex-minister Jihad Azour has told all parties in Lebanon that he does not want to be a “confrontation president,” a media report said.

A group of Lebanese citizens detained in the United Arab Emirates have been released, Lebanon's Foreign Ministry said.

Lebanon's ambassador to the UAE notified the ministry of the release of 10 Lebanese detainees who had been arrested there about two months ago, the ministry said in a statement.

The U.N. on Saturday announced the suspension of a decision to disburse U.S. dollar cash assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, after the move created an uproar in the country.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has endorsed the presidential nomination of ex-minister Jihad Azour, but “there is still confusion within the FPM that is casting doubt on the entire matter,” Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said.