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Mikati says govt. to pay compensations to war-hit southerners

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been quoted as saying that “the government is committed to paying compensations to those affected by the Israeli attacks on the south” and that “efforts are underway to secure the needed funds,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

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Hezbollah's Wafiq Safa on sudden visit to UAE

Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, arrived Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates on a sudden visit, following around 10 years of animosity and severed ties between the two sides.

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Egypt Ambassador: No Lebanese president has ever been elected without dialogue

The five-nation group for Lebanon, which comprises the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, has met Lebanese leaders this week in an initiative aimed at ending a presidential crisis and months of political wrangling.

The group's initiative consists of three phases, Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Moussa said. Moussa told LBCI Wednesday that the first and most important step is to communicate with the blocs and to have their commitment. Consultations would follow, and the third step would be the election of a president in Parliament.

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Wronecka calls for protecting civilians as tensions escalate 'beyond Blue Line'

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix have briefed the Security Council on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006). The Security Council was meeting in closed consultations to discuss the latest report of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of the resolution, the U.N. said in a statement.

Deeply concerned by the escalation in the exchanges of fire across, and increasingly beyond, the Blue Line, the Special Coordinator said these repeated violations of resolution 1701 increase the risks of miscalculation and further deterioration of an already critical situation.

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Report: US proposes sponsoring Lebanese Army presence in south

Washington has proposed sponsoring the “comprehensive military structure in south Lebanon for years to come” once a solution is reached for the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel has quoted sources as saying.

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5 Change MPs: No to arms outside defense strategy

Change MPs Firas Hamdan, Najat Saliba, Yassine Yassine, Paula Yacoubian and Melhem Khalaf have condemned an “incitement and treason accusations campaign” against fellow MP Ibrahim Mneimneh, after he criticized the appearance of Jamaa Islamiya gunmen in Beirut during the funeral of a group fighter who was killed by Israeli fire in south Lebanon.

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Israel hits Hezbollah arms depots in Syria

Israeli raids hit warehouses storing weapons for the Lebanese Hezbollah group in Syria Tuesday, a war monitor said, as a Syrian military source said air defenses had intercepted several missiles.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in Syria since civil war broke out in 2011, targeting Iran-backed forces including Hezbollah as well as Syrian army positions.

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Bkerki says consultations 'better, easier, and nicer' than Berri's dialogue

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has told the ambassadors of the member states of the five-nation group for Lebanon, as he met them Monday in Bkerki, that the call for dialogue to elect a president surprises him.

"The Constitution is the highest law, so why are we trespassing it?" Bkerki's spokesperson Walid Ghayad said.

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Bassil accuses govt. of seeking to 'exclude Christians from state'

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday warned that if the caretaker government “appoints 234 customs agents not including a single Christian,” it would be “insisting on excluding Christians from the state.”

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On anniversary of its establishment, UNIFIL calls for full implementation of Resolution 1701

As UNIFIL marked the 46th anniversary of its establishment today, Tuesday, its leadership renewed calls for all actors to "put down their weapons, recommit to Security Council Resolution 1701, and work toward a political and diplomatic solution," a statement said.

“Resolution 1701 has been challenged by current events, but it remains as relevant and necessary as ever,” said Head of Mission and Force Commander Aroldo Lázaro. "We call on all parties to commit to implementing the resolution in full. Our more than 10,000 peacekeepers continue their critical monitoring, de-escalation, and liaison work, and we stand ready to support a peaceful resolution to the current situation," he added.

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