Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday called for the formation of “a capable new government.”

He also called for “the election of a president before the end of the (incumbent) president’s term on October 31.”

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday announced that his group is giving a chance to the negotiations aimed at finding a sea border deal between Lebanon and Israel but warned that gas extraction by Israel from the Karish field would be a “red line” that would necessitate a response.

“Lebanon is before a golden chance that might not be repeated,” said Nasrallah about the offshore gas resources, in a televised address marking Arba'een, an annual Shiite religious observance that marks 40 days after the death of Imam al-Hussein in the Battle of Karbala (680 CE).

On Thursday 15 September, a memorial service to celebrate the life and service of late British Queen Elizabeth II was held at the All Saints Anglican Episcopal Church, Beirut, led by Reverend Imad Zoorob. 

The British Ambassador to Lebanon, Hamish Cowell, together with the Ambassadors of Australia Andrew Barnes and Canada Stefanie McCollum attended the service alongside Embassy staff, diplomats, MP Edgard Trabulsi, members of the British community and friends.

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi on Friday suggested that certain “sides” are inciting depositors to storm banks, shortly after the country witnessed a record five bank “heists” in one day.

“Our meeting’s aim is not to protect the banks but rather the country,” Mawlawi said after an emergency meeting for the Central Internal Security Council, telling depositors that their money “cannot be recovered through a method that is punishable by law.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday adjourned a legislative session on the 2022 state budget to September 26 after the meeting lost its quorum due to a walkout by the opposition MPs.

The legislature had earlier approved a three-fold hike in the salaries of public sector employees, pensioners and the armed forces.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea appeared Friday to disapprove of the wave of bank heists that occurred throughout the day.

“The bank storming operations that occurred today and the chaos that accompanied them are their Lebanon,” Geagea tweeted.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has met with the official spokesman of Yemen’s Huthi rebels and the head of the Huthi negotiating team, Mohammed Abdul Salam, Hezbollah said on Friday.

The talks tackled “the latest political situations in the region in general and in Yemen in particular, especially as to the negotiations of the current truce, the developments on the ground, and the prospects for the proposed solutions,” Hezbollah added in a statement.

At least five banks were stormed by depositors on Friday, prompting the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) to declare a three-day strike and caretaker Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi to call for an emergency meeting of the Central Internal Security Council.

The incidents started in the morning, when a depositor carrying a gun and a jerrican of fuel withdrew his frozen savings at gunpoint from Byblos Bank in Ghazieh.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday noted that calling for a presidential vote session without at least “some consensus” would be an “adventure.”

“This is my jurisdiction and when I assess that there is some sort of consensus, I will call for a session,” Berri said when asked by MP Paula Yacoubian about setting a date for a session to elect a new president.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned Thursday that “if (Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah wants to try and harm the Karish rig, he’s welcome to do so, but the price will be Lebanon.”

“Israel is ready to reach a deal that will assist both countries economically and energy-wise. I believe there will be two gas rigs in the sea, one on the Israeli side and one on the Lebanese side,” he said.