Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati will meet with President Michel Aoun this week to continue discussions over the government formation issue, MP Ghassan Atallah of the Free Patriotic Movement said on Monday.

“Some parties and foreign interferences have convinced him to cooperate with President Michel Aoun for formation and there are positive indications,” Atallah said in an interview on al-Jadeed TV.

The Central Bank and the Ministry of Energy have informed oil importing companies that gasoline subsidization will be lowered by another 15% as of the beginning of this week, LBCI TV reported on Monday.

According to the new scheme, the importing companies will now get 45% of their dollars through the Sayrafa platform and 55% from the black market. Under the previous scheme, they used to get 70% of their dollars via Sayrafa and 30% from the black market.

Commenting on an Israeli TV report about an imminent border demarcation deal between Lebanon and Israel, a senior Lebanese political source told Turkey’s Anatolia news agency that “Lebanon has not been informed of any stance over this issue until now.”

Israel’s Channel 12 had reported Sunday that “the signing of the sea border demarcation agreement between Lebanon and Israel could take place next week.”

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati will not replace Energy Minister Walid Fayyad in a new cabinet line-up reshuffle, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said.

A political source told the daily, in remarks published Monday, that Mikati would only replace the economy minister and the minister of the displaced, and would study President Michel Aoun's suggestion to add six "acceptable" state ministers to the line-up.

A submarine arrived Monday at Tripoli's port to retrieve a boat that had capsized last April near the port and dozens of bodies still missing at sea.

The Lebanese Army later announced that high sea waves have forced the postponement of the submarine's mission until further notice.

Israel on Monday warned Hezbollah that any attack on its gas assets could spark war, after the Iran-backed Lebanese group threatened to "sever" Israel's hands if it taps a disputed offshore field.

The warning from Defense Minister Benny Gantz comes amid lengthy negotiations between Lebanon and Israel to settle a dispute over their maritime border.

"Hezbollah is signaling it might risk war with Israel ahead of conclusion of maritime border talks," Israeli newspaper Haaretz said.

The daily added, in remarks published Monday, that tensions are rising along Israel's northern border.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday demanded the election of a president who would "not only demarcate the state's border with the countries surrounding Lebanon, but also with Lebanese forces acting as if there are no inviolability, borders nor dignity for the state, legitimacy and the army."

Lebanon and Israel are nearing an agreement over the demarcation of their maritime border, an official Lebanese source said.

“We are very close to reaching an agreement over the demarcation of the sea border with Israel,” the source told Russia’s Sputnik news agency.

MP Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, has warned that presidential vacuum would “weaken the national stance in the face of the external threats.”