Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday warned the upcoming government against sacking Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman.

“Let them try, I’m not Hassan” Diab, a defiant Hariri said, when told that there is an “inclination” to fire Othman.

Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman apologized to journalists and media outlets on Thursday following a new night of violent demos that involved assaults on journalists at the hands of ISF members.

“I sincerely apologize to the media and to the journalists who were covering the events yesterday outside the Helou barracks,” Othman said at a rare press conference.

During his latest visit to Lebanon’s second largest city Tripoli – his first regional visit in 2020 -- British Ambassador to Lebanon Chris Rampling reiterated “the UK’s ongoing support to the people of Tripoli,” the British embassy said on Thursday.

Rampling announced a further $1.7 million supporting the city’s economy reaching the most vulnerable under the Lebanese Host Communities Support Program (LHSP) in partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs and UNDP Lebanon. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the British Council Director David Knox and Tripoli’s Mayor Dr. Riad Yamak, renewing “the UK’s commitment to supporting the most vulnerable communities.”

The new government is expected to be formed on Friday should the positive atmosphere continue, media reports said.

Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab has asked for 24 hours to resolve “minor issues that are still pending,” Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) quoted unnamed sources as saying.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab held talks Thursday in Ain el-Tineh and agreed on the formation of a “government of specialists,” Berri’s political aide said.

“The meeting was very positive and it was a continuation of constant communication,” caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told reporters after the meeting.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Thursday warned that the “destruction of banks” would destroy Lebanon.

“Today, Lebanon is between the hammer of U.S. sanctions and the Iranian anvil,” Jumblat tweeted.

Caretaker Interior Minister Raya el-Hassan on Thursday said nothing justifies the use of violence against journalists, noting that military force inflicted on press members a day earlier was “unintentional.”

The security forces were holding at least 100 anti-government protesters Thursday, after two nights of demonstrations that turned violent in Beirut.

An unprecedented nationwide movement of protests demanding an end to endemic corruption and the wholesale removal of Lebanon's political elite broke out nearly three months ago.

A day after demonstrations outraged by restrictions on dollar withdrawal turned their anger on banks in the past two days, school students on Thursday protested near state-owned telecoms companies Touch and Alfa as protests against a government deadlock and banks continue to spiral across the country.

Amid reports that the much-delayed formation of Lebanon’s government is “imminent,” a group of students protested inside the offices of Alfa in the Jbeil area locking its doors and preventing access for customers.

The Lebanese army assured on Thursday that it “never relinquished” its national duties to protect civil peace and stability, noting that their assistance was not requested when clashes between demonstrators and security forces erupted in Beirut’s Hamra Street Tuesday night.