Israel threatened on Sunday to launch a large-scale military operation on southern Lebanon if the security situation continues to deteriorate in the region.

“Hizbullah has turned most of the villages in southern Lebanon into explosive spots,” security sources told the Israeli radio.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati has said that he “irrevocably ruled out the formation of a technocrat or de facto government” and reiterated that he rejects turning the cabinet into “provinces.”

Miqati confirmed to his visitors that several formulas have been suggested to end the government deadlock but blamed the large number of conditions for the delay in the formation of the cabinet.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has held more than one meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss reform in Syria, al-Akhbar daily reported Monday.

The newspaper did not say when the talks were held.

Speaker Nabih Berri is reportedly planning to launch a new initiative to bring the viewpoints of Premier-designate Najib Miqati and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun closer.

An Nahar daily said Wednesday that Berri is working away from the media spotlight to solve the dispute between the two officials.

Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to make a speech in the next two days to address the recent developments in the case of the construction violations on public property, said media reports on Friday.

Al-Liwaa daily reported on Friday that the party is “uncomfortable and worried” about this file being addressed.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati continued his consultations to break the impasse over the new government makeup after urging the leaders of the main parties to facilitate the formation of his cabinet.

Miqati held talks with the Hizbullah leader’s aide, Hussein Khalil, twice on Friday. He also met twice with the speaker’s assistant, MP Ali Hassan Khalil.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun will hold talks Wednesday night with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the regional situations and the cabinet formation issue, political sources quoted Damascus visitors as saying.

The sources told the Central News Agency that the two leaders' talks on the cabinet issue will tackle "the prospect put forward by premier-designate Najib Miqati which is based on constitutional principles and criterion in drafting any cabinet lineup."

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday voiced concerns over the "negative repercussions of the delay" in forming a new cabinet.

In this regard, the bloc cited "the surfacing of further negative economic and financial indicators, the obstruction of citizens' interests, the decline in tourism and financial growth rates and the deterioration in confidence in Lebanon."

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s latest remark on his party’s ties with the Amal movement thwarted attempts to create disunity between the two allies.

Nasrallah’s statement “foiled an attempt to break the unity between Hizbullah and Amal,” Berri told As Safir newspaper in remarks published Monday.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati has reportedly discussed the government formation process with Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the second meeting between the two officials since Miqati’s nomination on January 25.

Al-Akhbar and As Safir dailies said that the two men met on Tuesday night to discuss the obstacles facing the formation of the new cabinet.