Caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down from office after insulting remarks he made against Saud Arabia and Gulf countries.

“I asked to be relieved of my duties and responsibilities as a foreign minister in the caretaker government,” announced Wehbe after meeting President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace.

Lebanese officials flocked to meet Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid al-Bukhari on Wednesday in a stand of solidarity, following televised remarks by Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, in which he suggested Gulf countries provided backing to extremists.

Israel's deadly Gaza offensive has many eyes trained on the Lebanese border for a Hizbullah reaction, but observers argue the Iran-backed movement is unlikely to risk an all-out conflict.   

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Tuesday snapped back at President Michel Aoun, after the latter sent parliament a letter blaming the premier-designate for the ongoing delay in the cabinet formation process.

“The President’s letter to parliament is insistence on the policy of reversing facts and escaping forward and it aims to cover up for the foreign minister’s diplomatic scandal toward the brothers in the Arab Gulf,” Hariri tweeted, adding that there will be a further response during a session that parliament will hold to discuss Aoun’s letter.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe on Tuesday apologized over remarks that he voiced Monday which infuriated Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries.

In a statement, Wehbe said his “inappropriate words” were voiced as he was irritated and rejecting “unacceptable insults addressed to the President” during a TV talk show.

Scores of Palestinians and Lebanese protesting along the Lebanese border with Israel threw rocks and climbed the cement wall snaking around the frontier on Tuesday, drawing tear gas and smoke bombs from Israeli forces.

Lebanon's National News Agency said five people were injured and others suffered from smoke inhalation. A number of protesters in the Lebanese border village of Adaisseh had climbed the wall to plant Lebanese flags and the yellow flags of Hizbullah.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said it summoned Lebanon’s ambassador to the kingdom and handed him a letter of protest over “insulting” remarks by caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe.

In a statement, the Saudi ministry accused Wehbe of “insulting the kingdom and its people.”

The Lebanese Army on Tuesday announced finding an unlaunched rocket and six empty rocket launchpads in the outskirts of the southern town of al-Hibbariyeh, hours after the six rockets fell inside Lebanon after being fired toward Israel.

The unlaunched rocket was destroyed in its place in a controlled detonation.

President Michel Aoun met Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov on Tuesday, and relayed a message of support for Lebanon from the Russian President Vladimir Putin, media reports said.

The press office of President Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that the recent remarks made by caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe about Gulf countries, “do not reflect the stances of the President nor the stance of the Lebanese state.”