Leaders of Lebanon's Hizbullah and the Palestinian Hamas movement, both enemies of Israel, have met in Lebanon to discuss diplomatic normalization between Israel and Arab countries, Hizbullah said Sunday.

They stressed the "the firmness of the axis of resistance in the face of all pressures and threats," a Hizbullah statement said, without revealing where or when the meeting took place.

Rescue teams kept up their search for survivors in Beirut Saturday even as hopes raised by sensor readings of a pulse beneath the rubble of last month's blast began to fade.

The Lebanese army busted members of a terror cell linked to the Islamic State group, with potential links to the crime in Kaftoun back in August, the Lebanese Army Command-Orientation Directorate reported on Saturday.

Prime Minister designate Mustafa Adib marked one month since Beirut’s deadly port blast on Saturday, affirming commitment to investigations into the colossal explosion that took the lives of more than 191 people, injured thousands and left around 300,000 people homeless.

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker reportedly confirmed that a new package of US sanctions will be issued next week, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat said on Saturday.

The World Bank on Friday said it was canceling a loan to fund a dam in Lebanon that environmentalists claimed could destroy a valley rich in biodiversity.

The Bisri Dam was partially suspended in June after the Washington-based development lender said it raised concerns about the project's implementation, and given the government of Lebanon until September 4 to finalize key agreements related to operations and maintenance as well as the environment.

Citizens, activists, the army and the Beirut Fire Brigade held ceremonies and sit-ins at the blast-hit Beirut port on Friday to mark one month since the cataclysmic Aug. 4 blast that killed 191 people, injured 6,500 others and traumatized Lebanon.

People throughout Lebanon meanwhile observed a moment of silence in honor of the victims.

Army chief General Joseph Aoun announced Friday that the catastrophic explosion at Beirut’s port could have been avoided had authorities acted in a different way.

“From the very first moments after the port blast, the army took charge of the area’s security, seeing as that was its responsibility, even without the presence of an (official) authorization,” Aoun said in Ras Baalbek, where he unveiled a statue honoring troops and citizens who fell in a battle to rout Islamic State militants from the town’s outskirts and in suicide blasts inside the town itself.

President Michel Aoun was on Friday following up on the search and rescue operations at a Mar Mikhail building destroyed by the August 4 port explosion, the National News Agency said.

“To this end, President Aoun called Civil Defense Director General Brig. Gen. Raymond Khattar and learned about the latest developments related to the work of the rescue crews,” NNA added.

Lebanese authorities came under more fire from an anxious public after Thursday's search and rescue operation for possible survivors under rubble in Beirut, was paused for two hours.