Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi re-iterated Friday his call for Lebanon's neutrality, during his visit to Australia.

Al-Rahi expressed his fear for Lebanon's "positive" neutrality, "which is at the core of its identity and would keep it away from regional and international conflicts."

A Qatari envoy has arrived in Lebanon to help break the presidential impasse, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri confirmed to Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, in remarks published Friday.

"It is true that there is a Qatari initiative," Berri assured, adding that the envoy has not talked to him yet.

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat was not pleased by the result of the latest 5-nation group meeting on Lebanon in New York. "Some are playing with the Lebanese," Jumblat told L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper, a day after the meeting.

The group -- which comprises the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt -- had convened Tuesday at the U.N. headquarters in New York but failed to issue a statement because of disagreements between its members.

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel on Thursday hinted that Hezbollah was behind an alleged security incident near the southern town of Ain Ebel and a shooting attack on the U.S. Embassy in Awkar.

“From Ain Ebel to Awkar, yesterday witnessed two dangerous incidents that reveal an intention for escalation on the ground by those who are destroying the republic,” Gemayel said in a post on the X platform, in an apparent reference to Hezbollah.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday told the U.N. General Assembly that he is looking forward for the Lebanese parliament to “play its sovereign role by electing a president in the coming period.”

Peacekeepers wearing uniforms from 49 different countries expressed their commitment to peace and stability as they marked the International Day of Peace in Naqoura, south Lebanon today.

Hosted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at its headquarters, the ceremony brought together Lebanese political representatives, including Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab; local authorities; religious leaders; the Lebanese Armed Forces; security forces; U.N. officials, including Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka; and members of the international community.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka called Thursday for safeguarding Lebanon as a space for democracy, human rights, coexistence, plurality, and freedoms.

"By its very constitution, Lebanon stands forth as a beacon of inter-faith co-existence,” she said, on the occasion of the International Day of Peace.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has held a joint meeting in New York with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

UNRWA continues to respond to urgent needs of displaced families forced to flee the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, the largest in the country, a statement said. UNRWA is currently hosting 800 people in four of its shelters.

The Free Patriotic Movement on Wednesday said it welcomes dialogue aimed at electing a new president on the condition that it be “limited to the issue of presidential elections and the president’s program and characteristics.”