The Progressive Socialist Party will present to the Lebanese political forces a paper on Syrian refugees including practical ideas to help ease the crisis, starting next week, the National News Agency said.

Former PSP leader Walid Jumblat who met Thursday in Clemenceau a delegation from Hezbollah, briefed the group on the paper his party had prepared, the NNA said.

The ambassadors of the five-nation group for Lebanon are trying to resolve two lingering points: who should call for dialogue over the presidency and who should preside over it, an informed source said.

“The new proposal that the quintet’s ambassadors will promote in their expected meetings with the parliamentary and non-parliamentary forces entails that it would be in charge of calling for dialogue while Speaker Nabih Berri would preside over it later, which means that each camp would be offering a concession,” the source told the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal.

Ahead of French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné’s arrival in Lebanon this weekend, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has followed up with French Ambassador Hervé Magro on the latest French proposals for addressing the explosive situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, a media report said.

“These proposals include the implementation of Resolution 1701 within a complete package that involves endorsing a third presidential choice,” diplomatic sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Friday.

Calling all clean energy specialists! Are you passionate about building a sustainable future powered by innovation? Then mark your calendars for the 3rd edition of Middle East Clean Energy (MECE), the premier clean and renewable energy exhibition & conference in Lebanon, happening from May 8th to 10th, 2024 at the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut.

- Why you should be there? -

An Israeli was killed overnight in a Hezbollah attack in the occupied Kfarshouba Hills, the Israeli army said Friday.

Hezbollah said it has targeted overnight in a combined attack an Israeli military convoy near the Ruweisat al-Alam post in the occupied Kfarhsouba Hills. The group said it used anti-tank missiles and artillery shells, destroying two vehicles. It said its fighters had ambushed the convoy shortly before midnight Thursday, adding that the Israeli army used smoke screen to evacuate the casualties.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has revealed that he has “received major warnings from the Europeans and Arabs” regarding the Israel-Hezbollah clashes, a media report said on Thursday.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has also told him in their latest phone call that “there is a need to cease fire in the south and not wait for the course of the war in the Gaza Strip,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

Hezbollah denied on Thursday an Israeli claim that it had killed half of the Iran-backed Lebanese group's commanders in the south of the country, saying only a handful were slain.

The Lebanese group has been exchanging near-daily fire with the Israeli army since the day after its Palestinian ally Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf has reassured that there is a prospect for diplomatically resolving the current Israel-Hezbollah conflict, while warning that “the potential for escalation is acute.”

During a digital press briefing, Leaf added that the U.S. is “very much committed” to finding a diplomatic solution for the Lebanese-Israeli front.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has described has current relation with Hezbollah as “ordinary.”

“There was an understanding between us and the part related to protecting Lebanon is still in place while the part related to domestic policies has been shaken,” Bassil said in an interview on al-Mashhad TV.

Parliament on Thursday delayed municipal elections for a third time in two years in a session boycotted by the Lebanese Forces MPs, as militants in the country's south exchanged near-daily fire with Israel for over six months.

Lebanon is supposed to hold municipal elections every six years, but cash-strapped authorities last held a local ballot in 2016.