MP Ali Fayyad of Hezbollah’s bloc claimed Thursday that some forces did not honor understandings that allegedly preceded the election of Joseph Aoun as president.

Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam is sseking “direct communication channels” with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement and has been quoted as saying that he wants “a direct dialogue over all matters,” the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

The lead judicial investigator in the Beirut port blast case, Judge Tarek al-Bitar on Thursday charged 10 new suspects in the case, who include port employees and current and former security officials, Al-Jadeed TV said.

The TV network identified the suspects as port employees Marwan Kaaki and Mohammad Qassabiyeh, the security official in charge of Hangar 12 Rabih Srour, Customs chief Brig. Gen. Raymond Khoury, Customs officer Brig. Gen. Adel Francis, General Security officer Brig. Gen. Najm al-Ahmadiyeh, former General Security officers Munah Sawaya and Mohammad Hassan Mouqalled, Lebanese Army brig. gen. Marwan Eid and former army intelligence chief brig. gen. Edmond Fadel.

President Joseph Aoun on Thursday received invitations to visit Qatar and Jordan, as he met separately in Baabda with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi and Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani.

Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam kicked off Thursday the second day of non-binding consultations with lawmakers over the formation of the new government.

He is expected to deliver a speech after the consultations.

U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers, the Chairman of the Cessation of Hostilities Implementation “Mechanism”, joined by French Brigadier General Guillaume Ponchin, have accompanied Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) officers today to visit LAF checkpoints in south-west Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy said.

LAF 5th Brigade assumed full control of this area last week immediately after Israeli forces withdrew. Soldiers in 5th Brigade are now “in the process of making roads and villages safe for residents to return home,” the Embassy said in a statement.

Spain's top diplomat has announced a €10 million aid package for Lebanon's army, in a boost for the armed forces who have a crucial role in implementing a fragile Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.

"This announcement of 10 million euros for the United Nations Development Program" will contribute to "supplement the salaries of the Lebanese Armed Forces" as well as finance "solar panels and logistical aspects" of the army, Jose Manuel Albares said Wednesday during a visit to Beirut.

Celebrations erupted in several areas in Lebanon following the announcement of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Many people flooded the streets in Palestinian refugee camps, as well as cities like Sidon in the south, Tripoli in the north and Beirut’s southern suburbs. People marched or rode motorcycles, honking in celebration while waving Hamas flags.

Senior Saudi and Kuwaiti officials have expressed readiness to offer aid to Lebanon to assist it in the reconstruction process after the latest Israeli war, informed sources said.

Speaking on the sidelines of international financial meetings, the Gulf officials said such assistance should exclusively pass through the Lebanese state through a legal mechanism, the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.

Hezbollah has become “a shadow of its former self” after its leadership was “eliminated” and “its terrorist infrastructure of tunnels and weapons manufacturing” was “ravaged” by Israel’s strikes, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

“Hezbollah’s battered forces have retreated north of the Litani River as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement,” Blinken said in a speech to the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.