President Michel Aoun was briefed Thursday by the French and American ambassadors to Beirut on the results of the meetings held in Riyadh with Saudi officials.

The American and French ambassadors handed Aoun a joint letter from the foreign ministers of the United States and France in which they affirmed their countries' concern with the Lebanese situation and stressed the need to form a new government.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri held a meeting Wednesday afternoon with President Michel Aoun at the Baabda Palace.

Hariri -- who arrived in Baabda directly from a Cairo meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- said he submitted to Aoun a draft line-up for "a 24-minister cabinet of specialists" according to "the French initiative and Speaker Nabih Berri's initiative."

The Israeli army stated on Wednesday that “Hizbullah’s military depots are being planted in residential areas,” accusing Hizbullah of “using the Lebanese residents as a military tactic to implement its plans.”

The Israeli military claimed that “Hizbullah has an arms depot 25 meters away from a school in the Nabatieh town of Ebba.”

President Michel Aoun informed French President Emmanuel Macron's envoy, Patrick Durel, during his visit to Baabda on Wednesday that “efforts are still ongoing to form a new government that will prioritize achieving reforms, fighting corruption and proceeding with the forensic audit.”

Aoun also briefed the French presidential envoy about the difficulties and obstacles facing the new government’s formation, expressing hope for “positive signs” in his meeting today, Wednesday, with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.

Egypt has asked PM-designate Saad Hariri not to give up the mission of forming a new government, agreeing with him on a “timeframe” for consultations over the formation of the much-awaited cabinet, media reports said on Wednesday, shortly after Hariri met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

“Cairo will work on devising a roadmap for resolving Lebanon’s crisis,” Al-Arabiya’s al-Hadath TV quoted unnamed sources as saying.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Wednesday started a visit to Egypt ahead of a key meeting with President Michel Aoun over the new government.

Hariri’s Cairo visit involves meetings with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and several senior officials.

Lebanon’s electoral management and supervisory bodies “need to be fully empowered ahead of the 2022 Lebanon elections,” the EU Delegation to Lebanon said on Wednesday.

“A new Supervisory Commission for Elections with a properly sized budget, carrying out its mandate independently, is essential,” the Delegation added, in a tweet.

The Internal Security Forces (ISF) fired tear gas on Tuesday during scuffles with demonstrators outside the home of caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi, accused of stalling a probe into last summer's huge port explosion.

The protests, called for by relatives of the victims of the August 4 blast, swelled by the evening, with dozens of demonstrators streaming in to join families storming Fahmi's heavily guarded home in Beirut's Qureitem area.

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday held talks with Elena Valenciano, the head of the EU delegation that monitored Lebanon’s 2018 parliamentary elections.

President Michel Aoun affirmed during his meeting with visiting French Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester, Tuesday afternoon, that Lebanon is grateful for the “efforts” and “initiatives” made by French President Emmanuel Macron to support and “help the country out of its current crisis.”

The President thanked Macron for “his constant interest in Lebanon” and added that "the Lebanese are thankful for Macron's initiatives in the conferences that have been held and will be held to support Lebanon, including the conference scheduled for the beginning of the upcoming month.”