Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat condemned on Monday the Israeli assault against the Palestinian Gaza Strip, demanding that efforts be exerted to reach a ceasefire.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “Now is not the time to settle scores with Hamas and other Palestinian factions, but we should unite behind the Palestinian sacrifices.”

Hizbullah has taken into captivity 14 Syrian rebels as the death toll from its clashes with armed groups on the Lebanese-Syrian border has risen to 16, a monitoring group said Monday.

In the evening, LBCI television said “clashes with heavy- and medium-caliber weapons have renewed in the Eastern Mountain Belt amid Syrian air raids targeting the gunmen.”

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil condemned the Israeli aggression against the Gaza strip, demanding the Arabs to take a “unified” stance to end the Israeli hostility.

“Israel is benefiting from the international silence and the Arab incompetency by continuing and increasing its attack,” Bassil warned.

Military Tribunal Judge Fadi Sawan demanded on Monday the death penalty for 23 suspects accused of taking part in terrorist acts and belonging to the al-Qaida-affiliated Abdullah Azzam Brigades, reported the National News Agency.

The suspects include top official in the Brigades Naim Mahmoud Abbas, Jamal Daftardar, and Joumana Hmayyed.

French Ambassador Patrice Paoli expressed concern over the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, saying the Lebanese should find common ground on resolving their problems.

In remarks to several newspapers on the occasion of France's National Day, Paoli said the formation of Prime Minister Tammam Salam's cabinet earlier this year and the implementation of security plans in unstable areas across the country were not enough to resolve Lebanon's crises.

Speaker Nabih Berri considered on Monday that the mechanism that the cabinet adopted to regulate its work amid the presidential vacuum is paralyzing it and prompting each minister to be in control.

“We reject attempts to paralyze the cabinet... But unfortunately the followed mechanism doesn't interpret the constitution and the jurisdictions of the government amid the presidential vacuum,” Berri pointed out.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has said he would not call for a session without a prior agreement among its members to revitalize the cabinet, warning that “degeneration” would lead to “collapse.”

In remarks carried by several local newspapers that hit the newsstands on Monday, Salam said the cabinet members should strike a deal to restore the government's productivity and stop the paralysis, which made the last few sessions “meaningless and useless.”

Lebanese Forces leader MP Samir Geagea voiced concern on Monday that the presidential vacuum is effecting the work of the cabinet and the parliament, describing it as a “crime” against the Lebanese.

“Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's stance is righteous to press for a solution but things should be named as they are,” Geagea said, noting that parties should be held responsible for the delay in electing a new head of state.

A delegation from al-Mustaqbal movement headed to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for consultations with head of the movement former premier Saad Hariri.

The delegation will discuss with Hariri the latest developments and the stance from a possible cabinet session on Thursday, An Nahar newspaper reported on Monday.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab has said he was seeking to resolve the dispute between the Kataeb party and the Progressive Socialist Party on the appointment of deans at the Lebanese University.

Bou Saab revealed that he was in constant contact with Kataeb minister Alain Hakim and Wael Abou Faour, a PSP official, after the cabinet failed last week to approve the LU decree proposed by him.