U.S. Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein will arrive in Beirut on Wednesday, al-Liwaa newspaper said.

He will meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun.

An ongoing dialogue between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement is progressing positively, the FPM chief said.

Jebran Bassil revealed, in an interview published Tuesday in al-Modon news portal, that Hezbollah's feedback on a reform paper proposed by the FPM was "positive", which paved the way for completing the discussions.

Lebanese Forces sources have stressed that “the presidential vote should take place in parliament and in the ballot box, not through dialogue tables that establish new norms that violate the constitution.”

In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper, the sources also revealed that the the LF “has informed the French presidential envoy that asking the Lebanese to choose between vacuum and the election of the (Axis of) Defiance candidate shall not pass.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed that one of the keys to reaching a political solution in Lebanon would be “the need to clarify Iran's interference in the region.”

The remarks come days ahead of the arrival in Lebanon of French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is trying to find a way out of the presidential impasse that Lebanon is going through.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the potential for escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border is growing because of "ongoing provocations" and "flagrant violations" by Hezbollah.

"Iran is pushing Hezbollah to act," Gallant said in a meeting with Guterres in New York on Monday night.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said that his party is ready for dialogue with others over the presidential file, as he slammed political rivals for rejecting French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s latest call for dialogue.

“Had the envoy been American, would you have rejected his letter?” Nasrallah said in a speech marking the sixth anniversary of the ouster of jihadist groups from the eastern border region.

Two Russian citizens who were recently detained in Beirut on suspicion of spying for Israel have been referred to an investigative military judge who issued arrest warrants for them, two judicial officials said Monday.

The two Russians were detained "several weeks ago" in Beirut as they were leaving the country through the capital's Rafik Hariri International Airport, the officials said. The two judicial officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Christian Opposition MPs are reportedly dismayed by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat's remarks about sitting with Hezbollah for electing a president.

French special presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is set to arrive in Lebanon in September to resume a French initiative to push for a solution to the presidential impasse.

As part of the developments related to the beginning of drilling for gas in Lebanon’s offshore Block 9, U.S. Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein is expected to return to Beirut in early September, media reports said.

“On the surface, his mission will be to oversee the exploration process, but it has been reported that he is carrying a plan for addressing the problem of the Lebanese border with occupied Palestine in a manner that meets some Lebanese demands over the contested points,” al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Monday.

The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee convened Monday to discuss the Alvarez & Marsal preliminary forensic audit report and question the government and the central bank governor about financial reform laws.

Minister of Finance Youssef al-Khalil and Interim Central Bank Governor Wassim Mansouri attended the meeting. Minister of Justice Henry Khoury also attended the meeting to give answers about the judicial course of the audits.