Caretaker Minister of the Displaced Issam Sharafeddine has launched a vehement verbal attack on caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib over the Syrian refugee file.

“You talk a lot and I tolerated you last time, but what are you good for? You are subservient, gutless and complicit,” Sharafeddine added.

The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee convened Monday to discuss the legality of the government's spendings from the $1.139 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) disbursed by the International Monetary Fund.

The committee's head, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said after the meeting that the committee has decided to refer the SDR file to the Audit Bureau, accusing the government of spending illegally from the SDR without the parliament's approval and supervision.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Monday acknowledged that the Syrian refugee crisis has become an “existential threat” for Lebanon, calling for measures by the government instead of “statements and political exploitation.”

“The Free Patriotic Movement and its allies don’t represent a mere majority in the government but rather the entire caretaker Cabinet, so why doesn’t this government convene and give clear and very specific executive orders to all the security agencies that are concerned with implementing the Lebanese laws?” Geagea wondered.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has said that both the West and Damascus are rejecting the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to the war-torn country.

Bou Habib, who is currently in Washington, spoke to al-Joumhouria newspaper about the steps that a ministerial committee will make to communicate with Syria over the return of the refugees. In addition to Bou Habib, the committee comprises General Security acting chief Maj. Gen. Elias Bayssari and Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Mustafa.

Hezbollah central council member Sheikh Nabil Qaouq has noted that “there are foreign, international and domestic initiatives to resolve the presidential crisis but no progress towards a solution.”

“This is because the challenge and confrontation folk have torpedoed all these initiatives due to deep-rooted grudges and failed bets,” Qaouq said.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has warned some domestic political forces against being “delusional” regarding the presidential file.

“Delusional are those waiting for the balances of power to change so that their candidate reaches the presidency, such as betting on a strike against Hezbollah or Iran, the fall of (Syrian) President (Bashar) al-Assad, or betting on a Syrian-Saudi or Saudi-Iranian understanding,” Bassil said during a visit to Zahle.

A demo dubbed “Freedoms March” was attacked and besieged by a mob Saturday in downtown Beirut after it was accused of “promoting homosexuality.”

The attacks against protesters and journalists left several people wounded and the besieged individuals were eventually evacuated in Internal Security Forces armored vehicles after several hours of chaos.

Gunmen withdrew Friday from the schools they were occupying in the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, as a joint Palestinian force started deploying in the camp’s al-Taamir area.

The National News Agency said a “positive atmosphere” was engulfing the deployment process and that the Palestinian force was supposed to enter into the camp’s schools.

The Internal Security Forces has confirmed that a food delivery driver who opened fire outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut last week allegedly did so because of a personal grudge against the guards at the compound.

The ISF said they had arrested the suspected shooter on Monday, identifying him only by his initials M.K. and that he later confessed to the shooting.

A bus carrying illegal Syrian migrants has been stopped by security forces in the coastal area of Hamat.

“A patrol from the Intelligence Branch (of the Internal Security Forces) managed at 1am to stop a bus driven by a Lebanese national and carrying 12 Syrians who had entered Lebanon illegally via an illegal border crossing in Wadi Khaled,” the state-run National News Agency said.