Minor scuffles broke out outside parliament Thursday when protesters tried to advance towards the building during the final session of parliamentary debate on the 2019 state budget.

The scuffles erupted after the protesters – a grouping of retired servicemen – crossed a barrier placed by security forces near An-Nahar newspaper’s building.

MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc resigned from parliament Thursday following a string of controversial incidents.

“Hizbullah has been officially informed of the resignation of MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi” from parliament, state-run National News Agency reported.

One hundred and seventy-six Lebanese students have successfully completed the seventh edition of the Inter-University Programme on International Criminal Law and Procedure (IUP-ICLP), the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said on Thursday.

“When the impossible becomes possible… Through this project, I am now able to support my family and give them a better life,” said fisherman Wafic El Sabra.

Speaker Nabih Berri chaired the Parliament’s meeting on Thursday convening for the third day to discuss Lebanon’s months late 2019 state budget that faced scrutiny for failure to meet the requirements needed to resolve the country’s economic and financial crisis.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim stressed the need for collective efforts to overcome the political crisis that emerged over the deadly incident in the Mountainous region of Qabrshmoun.

The Qabrshmoun incident seems to cast its shadow on the government's work amid reports that a new attempt to resolve the crisis is being deliberated between parties and officials.

A verbal clash erupted Wednesday in parliament between Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab and Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour.

“The Lebanese Army is tasked with controlling the border and it is performing its role,” Bou Saab said.

The army on Wednesday announced the arrest of the widow of Mohammed al-Satem, an Islamic State militant who carried out a deadly 2014 suicide bombing in Haret Hreik.

“In the Akkar region of Wadi Khaled, the Intelligence Directorate arrested Ghinwa al-Ahmed, who is accused of belonging to the terrorist IS group and is the widow of slain terrorist Mohammed Ahmed al-Satem, a top official of the aforementioned group who went under the nom de guerre Abu Moaz,” an army statement said.

An Iranian official announced Wednesday after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri that Lebanon “must steer clear of all crises in the region.”

“We held a round of good and constructive talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Mr. Nabih Berri and we came here today to reiterate anew that Iran strongly backs the sons of the Lebanese people and the army, resistance and government,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the international affairs aide of Iran’s parliament speaker, said after meeting Berri in Beirut.