Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Saturday criticized Hizbullah for sending the ‘Hassan’ drone deep into Israel, saying such a move pushes Lebanon into “impending dangers.”

“The Lebanon we want is not the Lebanon of drones and it shameful to push Lebanon into impending dangers as is happening today,” Geagea said at a ceremony to announce the re-nomination of MP Pierre Bou Assi for one of the Maronite seats in Baabda.

Two Israeli warplanes overflew Beirut and its suburbs at a very low altitude in a mock raid on Friday, minutes after Hizbullah claimed responsibility for a drone that overflew northern Israel for 40 minutes.

The buzzing of the fighter jets jolted residents, rattled windows and set off some car alarms.

President Michel Aoun reiterated Friday that the parliamentary elections will be held on time on May 15 as he signed a decree referring to parliament a draft law for earmarking a budget for the polls in the 2022 state budget.

Aoun hoped parliament will approve the draft law as soon as possible to enable the Interior Ministry to continue the necessary preparations for the elections.

Israel said Friday that it fired an anti-aircraft missile and scrambled warplanes and military helicopters after a small drone crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

In an English-language tweet, the Israeli army described the drone as a “radio-controlled aircraft.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today has announced the appointment of Ted Chaiban of Lebanon as Global Lead Coordinator for COVID-19 Vaccine Country-Readiness and Delivery, at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, in UNICEF.

"Chaiban will lead a senior inter-agency team to ensure an effective global response to the pandemic, supporting COVID vaccine country-readiness and delivery," the U.N. said.

The Lebanese authorities have seized more than five tons of Captagon bound for Africa, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces announced Friday.

More than 30,000 pills of Captagon have been seized, last week, hidden in boxes containing five hookahs, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces said in a statement.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced Thursday that he categorically rejects any postponement of the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15.

“Lebanon is keen on holding the elections with full transparency and away from any pressures, and it categorically rejects any attempt to postpone them," Berri said in a speech at the 32nd session of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in Cairo.

The Lebanese basketball team arrived Thursday at Beirut's Airport from the United Arab Emirates, after winning the Arab Basketball Championship for the first time.

Lebanon had defeated Tunisia Wednesday night in the 24th Arab National Basketball Championship at Al-Nasr Club Hall in Dubai.

The 2022 state budget will be referred next week to Parliament, Head of the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan revealed.

Kaanan said that the minister of finance has assured that the budget hasn't been referred yet to Parliament, and will be sent next week, after the signing of the decrees.

Energy Minister Walid Fayyad announced Thursday that he held a “fruitful” meeting with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail, after the latest Cabinet session witnessed a heated exchange between them that reportedly prompted Miqati to tell Fayyad to “shut up.”

“The meeting with Mr. Premier was fruitful and we continued in it the discussion of the plan aiming to revive the electricity sector,” Fayyad said after the talks, noting that the media reports about the latest Cabinet session “took issues in another direction” and that Miqati “lauded the nature of the plan that we presented.”