Deputy Premier and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani announced Thursday that the new government “will spare no effort” to secure the release of nine Lebanese troops held hostage by the extremist Islamic State group.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has announced that the new government can be “held accountable,” or “ousted” if needed, noting that the LF was behind the recent change in the country's political course.

Fresh tensions were on Thursday engulfing the restive Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh after a member of the mainstream Fatah Movement was shot dead, state-run National News Agency reported.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced Thursday that the disputes in the country are not “sectarian” but rather “purely political,” adding that he will seek compromises “for the sake of the country.”

Al-Mustaqbal Movement's political bureau has noted that there is “no place for the voices of discord” during the new political stage in the country.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Ammar Houri on Thursday stressed his rejection of an electoral law fully based on the proportional representation system, noting that only a so-called hybrid law would be feasible.

As the new year begins, the new government will face an “uneasy mission” of agreeing on a new electoral law and passing a state budget, media reports said on Thursday.

State Minister for Women's Affairs Jean Oghassabian of al-Mustaqbal Movement announced Thursday that “there is a possibility to agree on a hybrid law for the upcoming parliamentary elections.”

Syrian woman Nisrine Hussein Mohammed Khalil, 26, and her one-year-old daughter Zahraa Wissam Kasseb were killed Wednesday when a blaze erupted in their home in the coastal Chouf town of Jieh, state-run National News Agency said.

Head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, held talks Wednesday with a visiting delegation from Russia's senate, or Federation Council.