Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel stressed on Friday that the election of a new head of state is a priority that should precede legislation, acknowledging difficulties in resolving the political impasse.

He stressed in comments published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that the current parliament should only convene to elect a new president, clarifying that his party rejects to meet to discuss draft-laws in the absence of a president.

The Lebanese government is expected to meet to discuss the fate of the growing number of Syrian refugees after cabinet members and the United Nations refused to establish camps to house them on the border with Syria.

Several ministers rejected the idea during a session held under Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Thursday over fears that the shantytowns would turn into training camps for jihadists.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Friday that he will accept the extension of the parliament's term if a new head of state was elected, ruling out that he would challenge the decision to prolong the legislature's tenure.

“I would accept the extension of the parliament's term only if a serious and real agreement to elect a consensual president preceded it,” Berri said in comments published in local newspapers.

Qatar's envoy, who is tasked with mediating the release of Lebanese soldiers and policemen taken captive by jihadists from a border town, is expected to arrive in Beirut on Friday amid hopes by their families that the hostages will escape beheading.

The envoy, a Syrian, is scheduled to meet with members from the Muslim Scholars Committee and officials close to al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front away from media spotlight.

The cabinet approved Thursday a number of stalled decrees after resolving a dispute between Telecom Minister Butros Harb and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.

Decrees during this period require the signatures of all ministers since the government is acting in the absence of a president and has assumed presidential powers.

The Israeli army on Thursday continued fortifying its posts opposite the southern Lebanese town of Adaisseh in order to conceal the movements of its troops and vehicles, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

It “cemented and fortified the military posts along the border with Lebanon facing the Adaisseh-Kfarkila road,” NNA said.

State Security arrested on Thursday in Nabatiyeh two Syrians and a Lebanese who leased his car to them to transfer drugs from Beirut to Nabatiyeh.

According to the National News Agency, "a patrol from Nabatiyeh's State Security department managed to arrest Abbas F. A., a Lebanese from Hay al-Sellom who leased his car” to three Syrians who were trying to smuggle drugs from Beirut to Nabatiyeh.

The families of the troops abducted by Syria-based jihadist groups on Thursday urged the kidnappers to stop threatening to kill more soldiers, as highly-informed sources said negotiations have made “slow progress.”

Prime Minister Tammam “Salam told us that the negotiations have not stopped and that the demands received by the government need some time,” Jamaa Islamiya member Ahmed al-Ayyoubi said on behalf of the families after a meeting with the premier.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea rejected on Thursday proposals that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun assume the presidency for a year or two.

He told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA): “I reject the proposal because Aoun is not the appropriate president for Lebanon at the current time due to his political agenda.”

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Jumblat and Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel discussed on Thursday an initiative to preserve state institutions, mainly the Lebanese army.

“We hope for a modest initiative to back institutions, mainly the army, and those that preserve the state and the Republic,” said Jumblat after visiting Gemayel at his residence in Bikfaya.