Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived Thursday in Beirut after a short visit to Damascus.

"The Lebanese must choose a president and we will urge the Lebanese officials for a swift election," Abdollahian stated from Beirut's airport upon his arrival.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, who had recently started a dialogue with Hezbollah, has called for political balance, as he said that "no one would accept that Hezbollah control Lebanon."

In an interview published Thursday in Kuwaiti al-Jarida newspaper, Bassil stressed the need to mend ties with the Arab world. "This alone would be enough to restore political balance," he said.

UNRWA said Wednesday that it is seeking US$ 15.5 million for its multi-sectoral emergency response following the armed clashes that took place in the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon between July 29 and August 3.

Four days of violence among Palestinian armed groups in the camp left 13 people killed and over 60 injured. Thousands of civilians were forced to flee their homes that were damaged or destroyed. All eight UNRWA schools, providing education for 5,900 children, have been occupied by armed militants and severely damaged. Materials have been looted and the two school compounds transformed into bases for the militants themselves.

Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden Amos Hochstein arrived Wednesday in Lebanon on a two-day visit to follow-up on the October 2022 maritime boundary agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

Before meeting Speaker Nabih Berri and later caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Hochstein had a quick coffee & a Lebanese manoushe with U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea.

An ongoing dialogue between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement is progressing positively, the FPM chief said.

Jebran Bassil revealed, in an interview published Tuesday in al-Modon news portal, that Hezbollah's feedback on a reform paper proposed by the FPM was "positive", which paved the way for completing the discussions.

French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed that one of the keys to reaching a political solution in Lebanon would be “the need to clarify Iran's interference in the region.”

The remarks come days ahead of the arrival in Lebanon of French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is trying to find a way out of the presidential impasse that Lebanon is going through.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the potential for escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border is growing because of "ongoing provocations" and "flagrant violations" by Hezbollah.

"Iran is pushing Hezbollah to act," Gallant said in a meeting with Guterres in New York on Monday night.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said that his party is ready for dialogue with others over the presidential file, as he slammed political rivals for rejecting French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s latest call for dialogue.

“Had the envoy been American, would you have rejected his letter?” Nasrallah said in a speech marking the sixth anniversary of the ouster of jihadist groups from the eastern border region.

Christian Opposition MPs are reportedly dismayed by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat's remarks about sitting with Hezbollah for electing a president.

French special presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is set to arrive in Lebanon in September to resume a French initiative to push for a solution to the presidential impasse.

The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee convened Monday to discuss the Alvarez & Marsal preliminary forensic audit report and question the government and the central bank governor about financial reform laws.

Minister of Finance Youssef al-Khalil and Interim Central Bank Governor Wassim Mansouri attended the meeting. Minister of Justice Henry Khoury also attended the meeting to give answers about the judicial course of the audits.