Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has warned some political rivals that “if the FPM fully moves to the opposition it will become stronger.”

Lebanese politicians are no longer pinning hopes on domestic and foreign initiatives to break the presidential impasse soon.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat are both losing hope, as Geagea and Jumblat expressed pessimism over an imminent solution.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari has stresssed that "sustainable solutions come from within Lebanon, not from abroad."

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has hit back at Speaker Nabih Berri after the latter tacitly accused him of torpedoing his call for dialogue.

“I didn’t understand how keenness on dialogue to elect a president can be considered rejection of dialogue. Any matter has its conditions and circumstances in order for it to succeed,” Bassil said in a post on the X platform.

In his first response ever against the Free Patriotic Movement’s repeated criticism, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun has snapped back at FPM chief Jebran Bassil over remarks related to the new Syrian migrant influx into Lebanon.

“We are hearing some voices that are questioning the army’s role in protecting the border based on known political stances,” Aoun said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday stressed that it is “unacceptable” for authorities to say that they have been prevented from continuing the probe into the abduction and killing of LF member Elias Hasrouni.

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.