Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil arrived Monday in Ain el-Tineh, with a delegation from the Strong Lebanon bloc, to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, in the presence of some of Amal's MPs.

"Electing a new president is only possible through dialogue," Bassil said after the meeting. "The dialogue does not mean we no longer have political differences," he added.

The Lebanese Forces party has said that it will not attend a dinner banquet that will be held Tuesday between Swiss Ambassador to Lebanon Marion Weichelt Krupski and representatives of the Lebanese political parties.

Al-Jadeed TV had reported that the meeting is aimed at preparing for a dialogue conference that will be held in Geneva, noting that the conference will involve several “official sessions.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has hinted that he might change his mind and join the presidency race, as he lashed out at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea without naming him.

Lebanon and Israel are expected to submit signed letters regarding their sea border agreement in the last week of October, according to the mechanism that has been agreed on, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab has said.

Twenty entrepreneurs, mainly women and young people, have won an International Labor Organization competition and cash prize to assist them in developing their local businesses in disadvantaged areas in northern Lebanon.

Qatar is interested in gas exploration in Lebanon, caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said Friday, a day after President Michel Aoun announced Lebanon's official approval of a U.S.-brokered border demarcation deal with Israel, unlocking significant offshore gas production.

Fayyad said that Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi has expressed Qatar's interest in joining the companies that will explore the block 4 and the block 9, where the Qana field is located.

Speaker Nabih Berri has announced that the sea border demarcation deal with Israel “does not require a debate in parliament because it is not an agreement with Israel.”

Berri added, in remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, that he has asked parliament’s general secretariat to distribute the deal’s text to MPs so that they take note of it, following calls by some lawmakers for discussing it in parliament.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna met Friday morning with President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Colonna had arrived Thursday evening in Beirut to meet with top Lebanese officials.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the resolution of the maritime boundary dispute between Lebanon and Israel.

In a statement he said that he strongly believes "this encouraging development can promote increased stability in the region and enhanced prosperity for the Lebanese and Israeli peoples."

President Michel Aoun said Thursday that Lebanon has formally approved the U.S.-mediated maritime border deal with Israel.

"This indirect agreement responds to Lebanese demands and maintains all our rights," Aoun said in an address to the nation.