Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea considered Thursday that despite France's efforts to break the presidential impasse, the problem is "inside Lebanon."

Geagea said, after meeting France's new special envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian, that the presidential crisis could only be resolved inside Lebanon's parliament.

MP Neemat Frem has stressed that the priority today is “rescuing” the country.

“I consider myself qualified to manage this process as a president, in light of the experience I possess in the fields of managing change,” Frem said in an interview with Tele Liban.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea has urged Parliament to perform its sovereign duty by reaching consensus, maintaining a quorum, and electing a president.

"We look forward to partnership with your future president, someone on whom we will count to put the interests of the country first, someone not tainted by corruption or subject to outside influence," Shea said Wednesday night on the 247th Anniversary of the U.S. Independence.

The Advisory Commission (AdCom) on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) convened in Beirut on Wednesday and Thursday, amid immense concern over the alarming financial situation of the Agency.

In the two-day session, chaired by Dr. Bassel El Hassan, Chairman of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), AdCom members actively engaged the UNRWA senior management on key issues related to the survival of the Agency and its services to Palestine Refugees.  

French President Emmanuel Macron's envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian met Thursday with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

Le Drian had arrived Wednesday in Beirut to end a political impasse that has left the country without a president for more than seven months.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Wednesday a cabinet session that he said discussed items that a caretaker government should not be tackling.

Geagea dubbed the session as "unconstitutional" although it discussed some urgent matters, but also contained other items "far from being urgent."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told the French that the presidential vote in Lebanon is a “sovereign Lebanese affair,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“The page has been turned on the candidate of (the Axis of) Defiance, Suleiman Franjieh, in light of the results of the June 14 electoral session,” the daily added.

French President Emmanuel Macron's envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to end a political impasse that has left the country without a president for more than seven months.

Le Drian is a political heavyweight who served as foreign minister throughout Macron's first mandate and previously as defense minister.

Independent MP Neemat Frem said overnight that he has been told by the Shiite Duo (Hezbollah and Amal Movement) that there is “no veto” on his possible presidential nomination.

“But they told me that until now their candidate is Suleiman Franjieh,” Frem added, in an interview with al-Jadeed TV.

Families in Lebanon are barely able to meet their most basic needs despite cutting down drastically on expenses according to a new survey by UNICEF. A growing number of families are having to resort to sending their children – some as young as six years old - to work in a desperate effort to survive the socio-economic crisis engulfing the country.

The results of the survey paint a dramatic picture of the situation as the crisis continues to escalate for a fourth consecutive year, with devastating consequences for children.