The British Embassy in Lebanon welcomed the UK Defense Senior Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa (DSAME) Air Marshal Martin Sampson to Lebanon from 5 to 6 July.

Sampson met Army Commander General Joseph Aoun), caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. He was accompanied during his visits by Charge D’Affaires Camilla Nickless and the Defense Attaché Lt. Colonel Lee Saunders.

The term of embattled three-decade chief Riad Salameh ends this month with no successor in sight, setting the stage for a leadership crisis at the central bank nearly four years into Lebanon's severe economic meltdown.

Lebanon since last year has been governed by a caretaker cabinet with limited powers and without a president, and naming a high official could take months of political horse-trading.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has threatened to respond to any “violation” of Israel’s “sovereignty,” hours after Israel shelled open areas in south Lebanon in response to mortar fire.

Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil has called on behalf of Amal and Speaker Nabih Berri for the publishing of an audit report submitted by the Alvarez & Marsal international auditing firm.

The Finance Ministry had denied last week accusations that it had “hidden” the forensic audit report.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi believes that “things are headed for the worse, the presidential vacuum will protract and the dialogue that is being called for is not serious,” Bkirki sources said.

“There is a Shiite Duo-backed premier who is acting in an unwise manner, contrary to the previous and current Sunni leaders, and he is behaving as if there is no vacant top Christian post,” the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan in remarks published Thursday.

The Central Bank’s four vice governors – Wassim Mansouri, Bashir Yakzan, Salim Chahine and Alexander Mouradian – on Thursday stressed “the need to appoint a governor as soon as possible as per Article 18 of the Money and Credit Code,” warning that they would “take the appropriate measure” in the absence of that.

Several Lebanese political forces told French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian during his latest visit that any inter-Lebanese dialogue should be limited to the issue of the presidential election, a media report said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called Thursday anew for the election of a president in order to put an end to the "sectarian exploitation" of the presidential vacuum.

The Free Patriotic Movement ministers have been boycotting the caretaker cabinet sessions, claiming that cabinet can not convene without a president.

The Israeli army said Thursday it was conducting strikes on southern Lebanon after a mortar launched from its northern neighbor exploded in the border area between the two foes.

The latest military action was launched three months after the two countries saw their worst cross-border fire in years.

Hezbollah issued a statement Thursday about Israel's wall in the village of al-Ghajar. The village is split into Lebanese and Israeli sides along a border, known as the blue line, that was demarcated after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.

"It is not just a routine breach of what the occupation forces are accustomed to from time to time," the statement said.