Maronite Patiarch Beshara al-Rahi on Tuesday said the international community cannot offer Lebanon financial incentives with the aim of naturalizing Palestinian and Syrian refugees in the country.

“We reject any type of international policy that tries to burden Lebanon with the price of everything that is going on in the region,” al-Rahi said.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party held a “coordinative meeting” Tuesday at the PSP’s headquarters in Beirut.

Mustaqbal Secretary General Ahmed Hariri and PSP Secretary Zafer Nasser and several officials from the two parties attended the meeting, which tackled issues of common interest and means to boost coordination in the face of the current challenges.

The Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc on Tuesday said “the priority should be the protection of the bank deposits of Lebanese citizens.”

It accordingly urged the new government to devise “an integrated and clear rescue plan” that would involve “measures binding for the parties concerned, including the central bank and the commercial banks.”

Civil Defense crews in cooperation with Electricite du Liban and Karadeniz, the Turkish firm that owns the power ship Fatmagül Sultan, have managed to contain a minor oil spill off Zouk’s coast, EDL said on Tuesday.

In a statement, EDL said the spill occurred as a ship was unloading fuel oil into the tanks of the Zouk power plant at 10:40 pm Monday.

The Mount Lebanon Prosecuting Authority on Tuesday approved a ruling by Investigative Judge Bassam al-Hajj for the release of the activist Rabih al-Zein on an LBP 500,000 bail, the National News Agency said.

Friends of al-Zein meanwhile gathered outside the Justice Palace in Baabda in anticipation of his release, amid strict security measures in the area.

A military investigative judge charged Amer Fakhoury with murder and torture of Lebanese citizens on Tuesday, crimes he allegedly committed during Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, judicial officials said. The accusations could carry a death sentence.

Amer Fakhoury, Lebanese-American, has confessed to working as a senior warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by an Israel-backed Lebanese militia. Fakhoury was detained after returning to his native Lebanon from the U.S. in September. However, he's undergoing cancer treatment, and it remains unclear if he'll be able to stand trial.

The Cabinet will convene on Thursday at Baabda Palace to discuss and approve the government’s Policy Statement, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan assured on Tuesday that the crew of a vessel arriving from the Far East to Lebanon’s territorial waters has been proven free of coronavirus.

A group of economists working in international financial institutions cautioned that the economic crisis in Lebanon has reached a “very dangerous” stage and the Lebanese government must not rush decisions related to “major issues,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

The ministerial panel drafting the new government’s Policy Statement completed its task on Monday and a Cabinet session will be held Thursday to approve it, the information minister said.

“There are no tax amendments but the Policy Statement includes taxing and monetary reforms,” Manal Abdul Samad said after the committee finished its last meeting.