The Israeli army carried out a live ammunition maneuver early Sunday in the Shebaa farms, the National News Agency said.

At around 7:00 am, Israeli troops kicked off simulated military operations in the southern side of the Shebaa farms close to the border line using live ammunition.

A European diplomatic source said that the United States will not accept vacuum in the leadership of Lebanon's military institutions, warning that it could halt the aid program it provides to the army, the Kuwaiti al-Qabas daily reported on Sunday.

The United states, which continuously provides the army with aid and cover to dismantle terrorist cells, will not accept vacuum in the leadership of the military institution, threatening that it could reconsider the aid program if that happened, the daily added.

The Lebanese army arrested overnight suspected Islamist Amin Mansour, the brother of Osama Mansour, in the northern city of Tripoli's, the army said in a statement on Friday.

The arrest in Bab al-Tebbaneh triggered a wave of popular protests in the streets of the city, NNA added.

The Lebanese army arrested two Syrian nationals at dawn after confiscating some amounts of weapons and ammunition that they kept in hiding, the National News Agency stated on Thursday.

The army raided a warehouse in Tripoli's al-Qobbeh which belongs to Syrian nationals of the al-Raayan family.

Vehicles packed with supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement roamed the streets in several regions Wednesday evening, as the FPM continued to prepare for Thursday's street action, which FPM chief Michel Aoun has described as a “fateful battle.”

“FPM supporters from all regions have started heading to the Nahr el-Mot area, where they will gather ahead of taking off in convoys” that will roam several streets, state-run National News Agency reported.

Delegations from al-Mustaqbal movement tackled with leader Saad Hariri the relations of the party with other political movements mainly the Free Patriotic Movement and the latest campaign the latter waged against them, al-Joumhouria daily said on Tuesday.

Discussions focused on the situation in the northern city of Tripoli in the presence of Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, MPs Mohammed Kabbara and Ahmad Fatfat, the party's Coordinator in Tripoli Moustafa Alloush and a number of the city's officials, the daily added.

Families of the abducted Arsal soldiers held a brief sit-in near the Qatari embassy in Beirut, amid heightened security presence, protesting the delay in efforts to free their sons, the National News Agency said.

The families called on the state of Qatar to complete the efforts and help free their abducted sons “before the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end.”

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi held Hizbullah responsible for the al-Saadiyat incident, stressing commitment to the state's authority and urging all related officials to unite efforts and put an end to the party's behavior, the National News Agency said on Saturday.

“Lately we have seen the criminal act in al-Saadiyat where Hizbullah, under the cover of the so-called Resistance Brigades, violated the town and terrorized its people through a show of force repeating the scene of May 7,” said Rifi during an Iftar in the town of Tripoli.

Israeli troops deployed in the outskirts of the town of Shebaa and took combat positions close to Lebanon's Blue Line, the state-run National News Agency said on Saturday.

At 10:00 am, the troops deployed in the al-Shahel area near the Blue Line that demarcates the border between Lebanon and Israel, NNA added.

MP Michel Aoun has called on ministers of the Free Patriotic Movement and officials for a meeting in Rabieh to discuss the procedures to escalate measures in protest to what he describes as “marginalizing the role of Christians,” An Nahar daily reported on Saturday.

Aoun has called for a meeting to “discuss the situation in the government”, said the daily “mainly after Thursday's cabinet session” that approved a decree to export agricultural and industrial products by sea despite the FPM, Hizbullah and Tashnag Party ministers insistence that no issue should be discussed until appointments of high-ranking officials were made.