Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel on Thursday rejected a proposal by Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun on limiting the presidential battle to himself and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, describing it as a “war of elimination” against democracy.

“General Aoun's proposal is a 'war of elimination' that is aimed at getting rid of everyone,” Gemayel said during an interview on LBCI television.

Two shells fired from the Syrian side of the border landed Thursday in the Lebanese southern town of Shebaa, in the first incident of its kind since the eruption of the Syrian conflict.

“Two artillery shells struck the eastern part of the town of Shebaa after being launched from the eastern hills of Mount Hermon on the Syrian side of the border,” Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Hizbullah on Thursday dismissed Saudi Arabia's call for the U.N. Security Council to label the Lebanese party as a “terrorist” group, shrugging it off as a “sonic bubble.”

“The Saudi envoy's remarks at the U.N. Security Council served Israel's interests,” Hizbullah sources told al-Mayadeen television.

The slaughterhouse in the northern city of Tripoli was temporarily closed on Thursday for failing to meet health standards regarding the way animals are killed and how the facility is maintained.

“The slaughterhouse was closed to preserve the safety of the citizens,” said a statement issued by Tripoli governor Ramzi Nohra.

MP Marwan Hamadeh told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Thursday that during the months that preceded ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination in Feb. 2005, Syria sought to grant former President Emile Lahoud “all powers” at a time when Hariri worked on forming an anti-Damascus opposition in hopes of winning the general elections.

“Lebanon was a parliamentary system, which was being shifted by Syria into a presidential system, whereby Lahoud - a Syrian candidate and a Syrian representative - was grabbing all powers,” Hamadeh told the STL Trial Chamber.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour ordered on Thursday the closure of drinking water filling companies that are violating food and water safety standards.

Abou Faour said in a memo that he asked security agencies to close all unlicensed shops that fill drinking water as part of the campaign he is waging against violators.

The Internal Security Forces arrested three people on Thursday in the northern district of Akkar for establishing an illegal international call center, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Two Syrian nationals and a Lebanese, who are part of a ring that is accused of setting up the call center on the border town of Arida, were arrested by the police, NNA added.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam called on Thursday on rival parties to resume dialogue and prioritize the national interest after urging Arab and Lebanese bankers to help Lebanon confront the crisis of Syrian refugees and hoped that politicians would be “infected” with the success of the banking sector.

“We should prioritize national interests and resume dialogue to end political deadlock,” Salam said in a speech at the Grand Serail on the occasion of Independence Day.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim informed the members of the hostage crisis cell that Syrian authorities expressed readiness to cooperate with Lebanon to enter a prisoners swap deal with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front that kidnapped Lebanese soldiers and policemen in August.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel expressed concern on Thursday over the “dangerous situation” imposed by the vacuum at the Baabda Palace, calling on the Lebanese arch-foes, in particular those behind the obstruction of the presidential elections, to assume their responsibilities.

“Lebanese factions shouldn't under any circumstances obstruct a national, legal, constitutional and political path,” Gemayel said in a lengthy interview with the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper. “It is an unforgivable sin.”