Lebanese Army intelligence agents liberated Tuesday near the Syrian border a Saudi citizen who had been kidnapped Saturday from Beirut. The man reportedly had been held for ransom.

A statement by the Lebanese military said Mushari al-Mutairi was released in a “special operation” along the Lebanon-Syria border, where the kidnappers held him hostage. Some of the involved in the kidnapping were arrested, the statement said.

UNIFIL has marked the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers and the 75th anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping, alongside members of the Lebanese Armed Forces, security services, political and religious authorities, ambassadors, and U.N. officials.

Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Lázaro emphasized the important role of all of those represented at the event.

Negotiations between the opposition parties have become limited to one presidential candidate, after ex-minister Jihad Azour was advised by Ain el-Tineh to withdraw from the presidential battle, sources informed on the overnight negotiations said.

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel accused Hezbollah Monday of having only destructive options for the presidential file.

In response to Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem, Gemayel said that Hezbollah is confused and that its logic is "laughable yet lamentable."

It has “become clear” that the Free Patriotic Movement and the opposition forces will not go to parliament to vote for Jihad Azour, because “they know that he is incapable of garnering more than 50 votes,” Shiite Duo sources said.

“They are using his nomination to exclusively burn Suleiman Franjieh’s card, because they believe that through that they would be paving the way for the endorsement of a third candidate,” the sources added, in remarks to ad-Diyar newspaper published Monday.

The Free Patriotic Movement, the Kataeb party, and the Lebanese Forces will likely announce their support for ex-minister Jihad Azour within 48 hours, al-Akhbar newspaper said.

The daily reported Monday that Maronite Patriarch has lauded the agreement and urged the three parties to announce their presidential candidate as soon as possible, so that he can discuss it this week in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the Lebanese file “in depth and in details” during their meeting in Jeddah on May 19, sources informed on the meeting said.

“This was reflected in Riyadh’s reversal of its previous veto on Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh’s election as president, before it lifted the veto and moved to negative neutrality,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

Hezbollah’s top lawmaker Mohammed Raad has launched a vehement verbal attack on the presidential candidate Jihad Azour and his supporters, in Hezbollah’s first public comments on the nomination of the ex-minister and current International Monetary Fund official.

“The candidate whose name is being circulated is a maneuver candidate whose mission is to confront the nomination of the candidate supported by us,” Raad said, calling on the rival camp to “stop wasting time.”

Israeli air strikes hit the Damascus region overnight Sunday, the Syrian defense ministry said, with a war monitor reporting five wounded in attacks on air defense sites that host Hezbollah fighters.

"At around 11:45 pm (2045 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack," the defense ministry said.

Senior Hezbollah official Sayyed Hashem Safieddine on Sunday emphasized that “reality obligates that a (new) president can only be reached through consensus.”