Outlaws in the eastern Bekaa Valley have reportedly fled the area to evade a much-anticipated security plan expected to be implemented soon, media reports said on Sunday.

Sources said in comments published in the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper that dangerous fugitives left their homes in the eastern Bekaa and headed to the Syrian town of Qusayr and other neighboring towns.

Israel expressed fear over an escalation along its northern border with Lebanon as its Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon sounded the alarm over the upcoming developments after Hizbullah's attack against an military vehicle in the occupied Shebaa Farms, media reports said on Sunday.

“The situation along the northern border with Lebanon and Syria is heading towards further escalation,” Yaalon said in comments to Israel's Channel 10.

The Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry, Jean-François Girault, reportedly expressed pessimism over the near end of Lebanon presidential stalemate.

Sources said in comments published in the pan Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Sunday, Girault is seeking to convince Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and the political arch-foes in Lebanon to play a main role at the delicate stage that the country is passing through.

Three soldiers were wounded overnight while pursuing a robbery gang in the northern region of Akkar.

The army announced in a statement that a shootout broke out when the troops attempted to thwart an armed robbery in the area of Sadaqa in Fnaideq in the North.

The fish market in Beirut's Karantina area will be closed down for a week in order to introduce improvements at the facility.

Fish Market director general Yasser Zebian announced during a press conference that it will be shut starting 3:00 pm on Saturday.

Security forces have stepped up in recent days their security precautions in anticipation of threats and attacks, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday.

It said that they suspect the presence of five would-be suicide bombers in the northeastern border town of Arsal and the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has backed down from his decision to resign as a lawmaker at the request of Speaker Nabih Berri, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

A parliamentary source revealed that Berri had asked Jumblat to postpone his resignation to May in order to allow the government to take the necessary arrangements to hold by-elections.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri is scheduled to make an address during a ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri on February 14, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

His speech will likely tackle the contentious issues that have not been addressed during the Mustaqbal-Hizbullah dialogue, it reported.

Washington received an official apology from Lebanon on its participation in the “White House conference on efforts to counter violent extremism,” because it cannot be a “partner with Israel in confronting terrorism,” media reports said.

More than 60 countries, including 14 Arab nations and Israel, are expected to take part in the summit slated on February 18 at the White House and presided by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam noted on Friday that the presence of refugees in a country of such fragile economic and political scenes as Lebanon is a “ticking time bomb”.

He said: “The large number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has led to an increase in crime due to unemployment and poverty.”