Security forces have arrested a number of notorious money changers who are accused of currency speculation operations in a wave of raids across Lebanon.

The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, on Saturday warned that his party’s “enemies” are “trying to turn the presidential juncture in Lebanon into a platform for taking hold of a president who would implement their policies and continue their scheme of tightening the noose on the Resistance.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Saturday stressed “the need for everyone to commit to finalizing the presidential juncture, instead of obstructing it with the aim of imposing a candidate wanted by the obstructing party.”

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Friday voiced strongly-worded stances against Hezbollah and vowed to block the presidential vote if “the other camp decides to elect a president who would cover up for Hezbollah’s arms for six more years.”

“We will not be dragged into weapons because we know the value of blood, martyrs and war,” Gemayel said in a speech at Kataeb’s 32nd Congress.

The Brazilian Ambassador to Lebanon Tarcísio Costa has participated in a ceremony alongside General Mohammad Kheir, head of the High Relief Committee (HRC) and representatives of Lebanese NGOs, marking the delivery of a Brazilian humanitarian donation of 38 water purifiers to Lebanon.

"The Embassy of Brazil in Lebanon is proud to announce that the Brazilian government has donated, on a humanitarian basis, solar-powered water purifiers to Lebanon," the embassy said in a statement.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Thursday hailed a statement issued by the Christian spiritual leaders in Lebanon, saying “it delineates a promising course and opens the door to resolving the presidential crisis on the basis of partnership and national balance.”

“Since last summer, we have been the first to respond to this existential appeal and we will still be the first. This is what I stressed to Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in my latest visit to him and I hope everyone will respond to this call,” Bassil added.

A Hezbollah parliamentary delegation led by MP Mohammed Raad on Thursday held talks in Rabieh with ex-president and Free Patriotic Movement founder Michel Aoun.

During the meeting, Aoun stressed “the importance of national partnership, the continuation of the state building project, the fight against corruption and the protection of citizens’ rights,” the National News Agency said.

French presidential envoy Pierre Duquesne met Thursday at the Grand Serail with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Duquesne is in a two-day visit to Lebanon in a French mission aimed at supporting the energy sector in Lebanon.

Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun met Thursday with Saudi Ambassador in Lebanon Walid Boukhari in Yarze.

Aoun, 58, is on good terms with all sides of the political spectrum, although Hezbollah has criticized him for his close ties to Washington.

A patrol from the judicial police on Wednesday raided money changers in the markets of the city of Baalbek and arrested two individuals who were practicing illegal money exchange operations, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The development comes a few days after State Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat sent a memo to Financial Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim asking him to “immediately” order the arrest of the money changers and speculators who are contributing to “the collapse of the national currency.”