U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein said during the latest meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee that Israel would withdraw within 15 days from south Lebanon’s western, central and eastern sectors, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah.
In separate notices sent to Congress, the State Department said it was moving $95 million in military assistance intended for Egypt and $7.5 million for Israel toward supporting the Lebanese army and its government. The notices were dated Jan. 3 and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

As Lebanese lawmakers prepare to elect a president on Thursday, some parties are still reluctant to support leading candidate army chief Joseph Aoun, who seems to be supported by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia.
The Free Patriotic Movement still has not announced its official candidate, but its leader Jebran Bassil has said that electing Aoun is not constitutional. "Any vote for Aoun (in the upcoming January 9 session) should be considered a spoiled vote according to the constitution," Bassil told LBCI in an interview late Tuesday. He said he supports former finance minister and International Monetary Fund official Jihad Azour and is open to acting security chief Elias Baissari.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday voiced optimism over the election of a new president in Thursday’s electoral session.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are still rejecting Army chief Joseph Aoun's presidential nomination, al-Jadeed TV reported on Wednesday.

France’s special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, met Wednesday in Beirut with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri as he visits Lebanon in an attempt to help the parliament elect a president — a position that has been empty for more than two years amid sharp political and sectarian divides.
Lebanon’s parliament is scheduled to meet on Thursday to elect a president. Le Drian will attend the session at the invitation of Berri.

MPs who took part in meetings with visiting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said the latter noted that Army chief Joseph Aoun is trusted by Washington and that cooperation with him has been successful, a media report said.

The opposition will hold a meeting in Maarab at 7:00 pm to announce support for Army chief Joseph Aoun’s presidential nomination, media reports said on Wednesday, a day prior to a presidential election session called for by Speaker Nabih Berri.

The United Nations joined the Lebanese government to appeal for an additional $371.4 million in humanitarian aid for people displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The extension builds on an initial aid appeal for $426 million launched in October, as all-out war flared between the two sides and sent hundreds of thousands in Lebanon fleeing their homes.

Lebanese political heavyweights held talks Wednesday a day ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a president, but even with key player Hezbollah weakened by war, there is no guarantee of consensus.
The tiny Mediterranean country, already deep in economic and political crisis, has been without a president for more than two years amid bitter divisions between Hezbollah and its opponents.
