Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi declared Wednesday, after his meeting with President Michel Aoun in Baabda, that “no one is as concerned with Lebanon as the President” and called on PM-designate Saad Hariri to "accelerate the government formation.”

Al-Rahi assured that the Pope's speech is “a guide for us, heads of churches,” and that “we will start working within our ecclesiastical framework to implement his recommendations.”

A representative from the United States Central Command, in coordination with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, is conducting a visit to review security upgrades to border security systems installed at Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) land and maritime border regiments, the U.S. Embassy said on Tuesday.

The two-week visit, which concludes on July 9, includes engagements with regimental commanders and the head of the LAF Navy to ensure the communications and surveillance systems integrate successfully into the operational framework at LAF headquarters, the Embassy added in a statement.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has offered Lebanon humanitarian aid due to the difficult economic conditions the country is going through, Israeli media reports said.

Gantz officially made this offer through the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Tuesday.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani arrived in Lebanon Tuesday on a one-day official visit.

He was welcomed at the airport by caretaker Deputy PM and Defense and Foreign Minister Zeina Akar and Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Hassan al-Jaber.

Will the upcoming days be decisive regarding the long-awaited formation of the new government, as Hizbullah chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said in his televised speech on Monday? Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has shown flexibility, but sources expect PM-designate Saad Hariri to apologize.

In remarks to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Tuesday, informed sources linked Nasrallah’s words about “decisive days” to a “new development”: the flexibility that Bassil has shown regarding Hariri’s demand that his government obtain a “prior vote of confidence” from the FPM, which would facilitate the government formation.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called on Tuesday for a joint session of the Parliament Bureau and the Administration and Justice Committee, to study a request to lift the immunity of three MPs in the Beirut Port blast case.

Judge Tarek al-Bitar had asked parliament to lift the immunity of the MPs Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zoaiter and Nouhad al-Mashnouq.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani will arrive in Lebanon at 5pm Tuesday on a one-day official visit, the Qatari embassy said on Monday.

The minister will hold separate meetings with President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, the embassy added in a statement.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said decisive meetings will be held this week regarding the issue of the new government, as he criticized the course of the probe into the catastrophic 2020 explosion at the port of Beirut.

“These days are supposed to be decisive regarding the cabinet formation issue and the meetings that will be held today, tomorrow and Wednesday can make things clearer,” Nasrallah said in a televised address.

Member of the Syndicate of Station Owners, George al-Braks, confirmed on Monday that "the indications point to an agreement to unload the cargo of (gasoline) ships parked at the Lebanese shores today.”

He assured that gasoline will be distributed, which will lead to an “increase in the number of stations that will operate normally, and a decrease in the queues that we have been seeing in the streets lately."

By Martin Longden, Head of Mission of the British Embassy Beirut

There have been better times to be head of the British Embassy in Lebanon. The crises buffeting this wonderful and troubled country – from the port explosion, to the Covid pandemic, to the economic collapse – have dulled Lebanon’s shine, impoverishing the people and putting both state institutions and the private sector under intolerable pressure. With no prospect in sight of a government capable of gripping the situation, Lebanon’s situation looks increasingly precarious.