Druze leader Walid Jumblat has called on “the political and military members of Hezbollah” to “realize that the past has ended” and that “they must turn to political action and abandon military action.”

Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said Tuesday that he is continuing his consultations to form a government that “meets the aspirations of the Lebanese and the urgent need for reform,” dismissing the latest media reports about the cabinet formation process.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement on Tuesday condemned Sunday’s motorbike rallies by their supporters that stirred tensions in Beirut and other areas.

MTV on Tuesday published a draft government line-up containing “some portfolios and names that have been settled until the moment.”

The past hours carried developments indicating that the new government will be announced in a few days, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

BY Kelsey Norman, Rice University and Ana Martín Gil, Rice University
(THE CONVERSATION) For more than a decade, Syrians have been the world's largest refugee population.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington as early as next week, according to two U.S. officials familiar with preliminary planning for the trip.
Should the trip come together in that timeframe, Netanyahu could be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump at the White House since his inauguration last week. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the planning remains tentative, said details could be arranged when Trump's special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, travels to Israel this week for talks with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has announced that the ceaesfire agreement's violation by Israel "highlights Lebanon's need for the resistance," adding that so-called army-people-resistance equation is "still steadfast despite the talk of haters."
In a pre-recorded speech aired Monday, Qassem added that his group won’t accept the extension of the ceasefire deadline, without addressing the fact that the Lebanese government had already done so overnight.

A source close to Hezbollah said Monday that Israel's army detained seven fighters from the Lebanese group during more than a year of hostilities between the two sides before a November ceasefire.
"Seven fighters from Hezbollah were taken prisoner" by Israel before the November 27 truce went into effect, the source said, requesting anonymity as the matter is sensitive.

An Israeli government spokesman on Monday stressed Israel’s “commitment” to the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon but added that “Hezbollah must withdraw beyond the Litani River.”
