Hizbullah is preparing its military arsenal and fighters to launch an operation to occupy the Galilee area in Israel, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.

The party’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s on February 16 sent “military notification… declaring that preparations to occupy the Galilee is ongoing,” a source close to Hizbullah told the daily.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati confirmed to his predecessor PM Saad Hariri that he supports the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, An Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday.

“I announced it from day one, and I insist on my position,” Miqati informed Hariri on different occasions by sending him messages via different mediators, the daily said.

Lebanon’s joint border force has closed two illegal crossing points on the Lebanese-Syrian border in the northeast, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said Wednesday that two bulldozers closed the crossings near the village of Majdal in Wadi Khaled on the northeastern border with Syria in an effort to combat smuggling.

President Michel Suleiman has called for democratic changes in the region but without bloodshed saying democracy should be achieved through peaceful means.

On his way back to Beirut after extending condolences to Saudi King Abdullah over the death of the crown prince, Suleiman told An Nahar’s reporter: “There is no escape from democracies in the Arab world but such democracies should be (achieved) through peaceful means away from bloodshed.”

The March 14-led opposition stressed the need to resume dialogue in Lebanon but among members of the “new parliamentary majority camp,” al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Thursday.

March 14 leadership sources told the daily in comments on Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for all-party talks, that “the dialogue is a vital necessity, but among the new majority camp… amid the disputes that proved they are incapable of resolving even the smallest issues.”

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah discussed with Syrian President Bashar Assad the stance of the Lebanese parliamentary majority from the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that Nasrallah visited Damascus around 10 days ago. Discussions between the two men focused on the regional developments and the March 8 forces’ rejection to fund the STL.

German authorities Wednesday freed two men initially suspected last month of acquiring chemicals for a possible bombing ahead of the September 11, 2001 attacks' anniversary and a papal visit.

Prosecutors pressed no charges against the men, a 24-year-old German of Lebanese origin and a 28-year-old Palestinian from the Gaza Strip.

Former premier Saad Hariri on Wednesday noted that “the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was established for the sake of fulfilling justice and putting an end to political assassinations in Lebanon.”

The U.N.-backed STL, probing the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri, was also established to “put an end to the era of using force to impose political choices and employing terrorism to take revenge on political rivals,” Hariri said.

Visiting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jake Walles, held talks on Wednesday with Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

The U.S. official had held talks on Tuesday with a number of Lebanese officials to discuss the political, security, and economic situation in Lebanon, as well as the current situation in Syria, it added.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher reiterated on Wednesday the UK’s commitment to Lebanon.

He revealed after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the premier will travel to London on November 7 where he is scheduled to meet with his British counterpart David Cameron.