President Michel Aoun has defended Hizbullah in an interview in Rome with leading Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

“Hizbullah has no influence in any way on the security situation of the Lebanese inside the country. As for the southern border, there is ongoing cooperation between the army and the UNIFIL forces,” Aoun said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres takes note of the judgement delivered by the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon in which Hassan Merhi and Hussein Oneissi were convicted in relation to the 14 February 2005 attack in Beirut that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others and injured 226 more, his spokesman said.

Noting that Merhi and Oneissi “remain at large,” the spokesman said “the Secretary-General’s thoughts are with the victims of the 14 February attack and their families.”

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held talks Monday in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after arriving in the country on a previously unannounced visit, Israeli and Arab media reports said.

Israeli media reports meanwhile said that Bennett will also hold a tripartite summit with al-Sisi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

President Michel Aoun on Monday called, from Rome, for setting up a Vatican-sponsored Lebanon support fund and for boosting aid programs for Lebanon, the Presidency said.

The head of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Qu Dongyu, and the head of the U.N.’s World Food Program, David Beasley, both said that Aoun’s suggestion will be taken into consideration, the Presidency added.

UNIFIL on Monday marked the 44th anniversary of the U.N. mission’s establishment with its newly-appointed head and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro, calling on the parties to make “meaningful steps” towards a sustainable peace.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Monday called for putting an end to “all the Lebanon-based political, military, security and media activities that harm the sovereignty, security and stability of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.”

Noting in a statement that “the government is committed to restoring the normalcy of ties between Lebanon and the GCC nations,” Miqati pointed out that his recent phone call with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed al-Nasser was part of his efforts in this regard.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said in an interview that his party has the ability to replace the Free Patriotic Movement as the leading Christian group in the country through the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“On the Christian level, I will say it like this for the first time: is the LF a substitute to the FPM? Yes! And I openly and loudly say it. Yes it is an alternative because the LF’s practices are totally opposite to the practices that we saw from the FPM while in power,” Geagea told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Monday, after meeting with Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit in Egypt, that he wants Lebanon to be an active member of the Arab League.

"Today, Lebanon is suffering from a disease. It must in its illness turn to friends and this is what we are doing today,” al-Rahi added.

President Michel Aoun re-invited Monday Pope Francis to visit Lebanon, urging him to continue supporting Lebanon, during a visit to the Vatican city.

"Lebanon is in dire need for support," Aoun said in a meeting with the Pope, adding that he does not want Lebanon to "pay the price" for the region's conflicts.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati has said Lebanon can not be isolated from its neighboring Arab countries, welcoming a humanitarian French-Saudi initiative.

A French-Saudi fund had been decided in a meeting between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, Miqati told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Monday.