A Lebanese judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed against a Saudi minister, saying it would harm the country's “higher national interest.”

“Beirut First Examining Magistrate Ghassan Oueidat has issued a ruling in which he decided not to proceed with the lawsuit filed by liberated captive Nabih Hussein Awada via his lawyer Hassan Bazzi against Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan,” the National News Agency said.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri emphasized after a summit at Baabda Palace with President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri that Lebanon will always have “unified stances to confront Israel's violations,” the National News Agency reported on Monday.

“Our stances will always be united to confront Israel's violations against Lebanon,” assured Hariri.

International funding for Lebanon in 2017 amounted to USD 1.68 billion, as shown by the funding update released by the Office of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.

This amount includes a total of USD 1.37 billion disbursed by donors in 2017 and USD 309.6 million carried over from 2016 by implementing partners.

After the downing of an Israeli warplane by Syrian forces over the weekend, Speaker Nabih Berri said the incident “will create new rules of engagement” as he ruled out an escalation in the region, assuring that Lebanon's oil excavation rights are safeguarded, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

“What happened is larger than a battle and a little less than a war. It will create new balances and rules of engagement in the region. This event is the first of its kind in tens of years. However, no escalation is expected. Things will end there, they will not develop into a comprehensive war,” the daily quoted Berri as telling his visitors.

A major international donor conference aimed at boosting support for Lebanon's army and security forces has been scheduled on March 15.

A Lebanese man on Sunday crossed the border fence into Israel from the Fatima Gate area in south Lebanon, the Lebanese National News Agency said.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett has warned that "any future battle with Lebanon will witness the launch of a large number of rockets at northern and central Israel."

President Michel Aoun intends to invite Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri to a meeting in Baabda on Monday, media reports said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will tackle "Hizbullah's subversive role in Lebanon and the region" during his upcoming visit to Beirut, a U.S. official said.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs David Satterfield expressed during talks in Lebanon last week concerns over the possible relocation of Iranian missile bases and factories from Syria to south Lebanon, a media report said.