Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq assured that Lebanon's parliamentary elections will be held on time and that the ministry has started the preparations needed for that purpose, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

The parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 2017, amid disbelief that the long-awaited polls will be staged on time.

The joint parliamentary committees tasked with drafting an electoral law failed to achieve that purpose on Tuesday and scheduled the upcoming session to July 13.

Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan made a suggestion that MPs vote at the parliament's general secretariat for the electoral law they deem appropriate, otherwise reconsider the initiative launched by Speaker Nabih Berri.

MP Robert Fadel submitted his written and official resignation on Wednesday and stressed that he will not carry on his duties as a lawmaker but at the same time assured that he will not give up on politics.

“From now on, I consider myself a resigned MP and I will not carry out my duties as a lawmaker,” said Fadel after submitting his resignation to the parliament's general secretariat.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag expressed concern over the dire living conditions in the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidieh in southern Lebanon, a statement said on Wednesday.

Kaag expressed her concern and "reaffirmed that the United Nations, through UNWRA, will continue to support Palestine refugees hosted in Lebanon," the statement said.

Lebanon's oil exploration file is back to the forefront after it was shadowed by the overall paralysis governing the country, at a time when Israel is about to start its oil production which threatens to syphon off Lebanon's oil and gas where the fields overlap.

Lebanon's petroleum authority has finally obtained “seismic” surveys conducted by one of the foreign companies tasked since 2002 for that purpose. The surveys show that the oil reservoirs in the southern region are promising especially blocs 8 and 9, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

Resigned Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi expressed surprise on Tuesday at the Kataeb party's decision that expelled him despite his commitment to the party's decision to resign from the cabinet.

“I asserted to (Maronite Patriarch Beshara) al-Rahi that I have committed to the Kataeb decision to resign from the cabinet and I was surprised to know that the party decided to expel me despite of that,” said the Kataeb Minister after he met Rahi in Bkirki.

Foreign powers have not lost hope in Lebanon and Washington is still interested in helping the Mediterranean country maintain its peace as it continues to arm the Lebanese army and assist it in its fight against terrorism, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

“Lebanon did not come out of the circle of Washington's attention, it is in the heart of this attention,” well-informed sources quoted a U.S. diplomat on condition of anonymity.

One man was killed and another was wounded during a police raid in the outskirts of the town of Fnaideq in Akkar, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.

Police carried out a raid in Fnaideq to arrest fugitive Mohammed Ali Taleb also known as Abou Ali al-Tarsha.

Speaker Nabih Berri will raise the issue of Lebanon's oil exploration file with PM Tammam Salam at the sidelines of the national dialogue session to be held on Tuesday in Ain al-Tineh, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

Berri will press the need to list the issue on the cabinet's agenda to be discussed during its coming session, said the daily.

A man was shot dead overnight after an armed dispute erupted between two families in the southern Tyre village of Jwayya, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.

A conflict erupted between the Qassem and Ismail families against the backdrop of hanging a poster advertising for a municipality member, which aggravated to an armed clash and led to the killing of Hussein Dayekh, NNA said.