Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Friday said the meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon is an important gesture that requires the introduction of reforms in order to make it “successful.”

“The Paris conference to support Lebanon is extremely important, but to make it succeed we need reforms, we need to stop the squandering (of public funds) and end deficit,” Jumblat said in a tweet.

President Michel Aoun has announced that Hizbullah does not use its controversial arsenal of arms inside Lebanon.

“There are political rather than security concerns, because everyone knows that Hizbullah does not use its arms inside Lebanon, and up until now, this has only happened once, when the then Lebanese government took measures against the party,” Aoun said in an interview with RT television, referring to the May 2008 clashes.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived Thursday in Paris to take part in a meeting for the International Support Group for Lebanon, which will be held on Friday.

He described the meeting as “an important juncture for supporting the Lebanese economy and strengthening its resilience in the face of the refugee crisis.”

Nine children were killed and 14 others were injured when a huge fire gutted a Syrian refugee encampment Thursday in the western Bekaa town of Ghazze, the National News Agency said.

The blaze turned dozens of tents into ashes, the agency added, noting that the fire resulted from the explosion of a gas cylinder inside one of the tents.

Hizbullah said Thursday that the U.S. declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has closed all paths to negotiations, calling it a "treacherous and malicious aggression" against the rights of Palestinians.

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement reaffirms that the only way to restore rights is through armed "resistance," Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital is a flagrant “provocation for Muslims and Christians,” the National News Agency reported Thursday.

“Indeed it's a sad day in the history of the Middle East. I strongly denounce Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This recognition undermines all peace efforts from the Oslo Accords to Camp David,” until the recent negotiations, said Geagea.

Speaker Nabih Berri called for a parliament meeting strictly dedicated to discuss the developments following US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

"Berri called for a parliament meeting on Friday to discuss the Jerusalem issue," said NNA.

Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital has drawn sharp criticism around the world and in Lebanon, triggering series of denouncing statements and protests mainly in Palestinian refugee camps in the country.

People staged angry protests late on Wednesday in al-Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon denouncing US President Donald Trump's move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

The International Support Group for Lebanon is expected to affirm solidarity with Lebanon during its Friday meeting, but it will also "strictly monitor" the commitment of the Lebanese government to the dissociation policy which could become “the basic criterion for providing assistance to Lebanon,” An Nahar daily reported Thursday.

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday deplored U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

“It is a dangerous decision that undermines the United States' credibility as a sponsor of the peace process in the region,” Aoun said in a tweet.