Two al-Jadeed TV journalists and a member of the Zahle Municipality were assaulted Thursday by gunmen loyal to MP Nicolas Fattoush and his brother Pierre during the filming of a TV report on the construction of a controversial cement factory.

"The colleagues Yumna Fawaz and Saad Ayyad were beaten up, threatened with weapons and detained by bodyguards loyal to Pierre Fattoush in Zahle,” al-Jadeed TV said.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon heard on Thursday the controversy on telecommunications data that erupted in the aftermath of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

MP Marwan Hamadeh, who is the first politician to appear in court as a witness in the in absentia trial of five Hizbullah members, provided answers during the cross-examination of defense counsel Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse.

Information Minister Ramzi Jreij noted on Thursday that the media is offering the kidnappers of the Arsal captives too much airtime, “which is allowing them to blackmail the state and the victims' families.”

He said during a press conference: “The terrorists are exploiting the media to terrorize the people and they should therefore be kept away from the spotlight.”

Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayeb and Health Minister Wael Abou Faour held a joint press conference on Thursday over the food safety scandal, warning the owners of dairy factories that the state will not yield to their threats.

“We will not allow anyone pressure the state and the small producers... Greed is forbidden,” Abou Faour told reporters in comments on the protesters carried out by dairy farmers across the country last week over the fall in milk prices.

Israel doesn't expect a Syrian or Lebanese response to an airstrike in Syria attributed to Israel earlier this week since they are too tied up with that country's bloody civil war and can't afford to open another front, a senior Israeli military officer said Wednesday.

The officer said Hizbullah fighters had the capability, but not the motivation, at this time to harm Israel and there was no "logic" to picking a fight with Israel while it was knee-deep in battling a Sunni insurgency.

The crises gripping Lebanon due to the ongoing vacuum at the Baabda Palace are expected to increase with the near end of the tenure of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji and Internal Security Forces chief Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous.

According to al-Akhbar newspaper the tenure of Basbous ends in June, while Qahwaji's two-year extended term ends in September.

Speaker Nabih Berri has reiterated that Israel was “stealing” Lebanon's natural gas through a pipeline lying in its territorial waters despite a claim made by Energy Minister Arthur Nazarian that he did not have information about the alleged aggression.

Berri told As Safir daily published on Thursday that he has “evidence” condemning Israel.

The relatives of abducted soldiers and policemen were informed by an international side that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group is ready to release a hostage before the holidays as a goodwill gesture.

According to Ad Diyar newspaper published on Thursday, the relatives said that ISIL's initiative is to press the Lebanese state to change its maneuvers and its techniques in dealing with the abduction ordeal.

EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst has said that Lebanon “stands at crossroads,” warning that the country was suffering from the repercussions of the Syrian crisis.

“What I mean by crossroads is that you have foreign influences. All what's happening in the region is reflecting on Lebanon as a result of the crisis in Syria,” said Eichhorst.

Lebanon's southern city of Sidon is best known for its Crusader castle and ancient market, but a more modern landmark has marred its Mediterranean shoreline for decades -- a towering "mountain" of trash.

In the summer, reeking fumes hung over the city, and fires broke out at the dump. Rubbish washed out to sea reaching Cyprus, 260 kilometers (160 miles) away in the Mediterranean, and was pushed across the city by winter storms.