The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it had imposed new sanctions on two individuals and three entities on charges of financing Hizbullah and trying to circumvent U.S. sanctions.

According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the two individuals are “Wael Bazzi, a Belgian resident who worked on behalf of his father and Hizbullah financier Mohamed Bazzi; and Lebanon-based Hassan Tabajeh, who acted on behalf of his brother Adham Tabjba, a member of Hizbullah and one of its financiers.”

The Cabinet convened at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Thursday to discuss 38 items on its agenda that does not include the 2019 state’s budget.

A member of the Internal Security Forces was found dead with a gunshot wound near the American University of Beirut, VDL (93.3) radio station said on Thursday.

The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement are still in an open conflict over many internal issues the most recent was over leaking of minutes of meeting between Lebanese officials and Marshall Billingslea, assistant secretary for terrorist financing in the United States Department of the Treasury, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

Head of Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc, Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon should start preparations for a new parliamentary electoral law, noting that his bloc prepared a “law initiative” in that regard, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

The United States Embassy in Lebanon has revoked the visas of several Lebanese figures with reported good relations with Iran and the Syrian government, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday said Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are seeking to sign several future agreements, assuring that a Saudi decision to lift the ban on travel to Lebanon has contributed to an increase in the number of expatriates.

Hariri, speaking at a conference on humanitarian work, he asserted that there is a real will on the part of Saudi Arabia to “deepen” relations with Lebanon, stressing it has always shown concern about Lebanon and the Israeli aggressions it was subject to.

Lebanon’s Minister of Defence, Elias Bou Saab, led a delegation on Wednesday to the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura and visited areas along the Blue Line, where he was briefed on UNIFIL’s work, together with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), in maintaining the existing calm.

The General Security Directorate issued an alert urging vigilance from Israeli agents trying to enter Lebanon under the guise of “tourism excursions,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Israeli enemy is trying to enter Lebanon by recruiting its agents in delegations under the cover of "tourist trips", in order to use them for security purposes inside Lebanon," said the statement.

As Lebanon grapples with an economic crisis pressuring the government into implementing austerity measures, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said he is “optimistic” about the capability to overcome it, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.