Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar has stressed that he “will not give up the port file under any pressure.”

“I will not step down from this case,” Bitar added, in remarks to the al-Modon news portal.

Parliament convened Thursday for the 11th time to elect a president, as activists and relatives of the Beirut port blast victims rallied in front of the parliament to protest the stalled probe into the blast.

Lawmaker Michel Mouawad won the support of 34 lawmakers while thirty-seven MPs cast blank votes.

The Lebanese Army on Thursday prohibited an Israeli bulldozer from breaching the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line on the border with Lebanon, al-Manar TV said.

The army had on Wednesday also stopped the work of an Israeli bulldozer by force after it tried to cross the Blue Line.

Activists and relatives of the Beirut port blast victims rallied Thursday in front of the parliament ahead of another presidential election session.

They are protesting years of what they say is political interference in the probe.

The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday waded into the debate over the meetings of the caretaker Cabinet, stressing that caretaker PM Najib Mikati “does not have the right to convene Cabinet without the approval of (all) ministers.”

“He also does not have the right to issue and sign decrees without the signatures of all ministers, in line with Article 62 of the constitution,” the Council added, in a statement issued after its monthly meeting in Bkirki under Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

The Lebanese Army on Wednesday stopped the work of an Israeli bulldozer by force after it tried to cross the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line, al-Manar TV reported.

Lebanese and Israeli troops had earlier gone on alert on both sides of the border after the bulldozer breached the Blue Line.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed Wednesday after a caretaker Cabinet session that he is not a sectarian person, after the meeting was boycotted by several Christian ministers affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement.

“What everyone should understand is that when Cabinet convenes, its aim is not to worsen the rift but rather to serve the citizen,” Mikati said.

After being accused of seeking partitioning, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Wednesday that "all the Lebanese are our people."

"We will discuss the current political structure with others," Geagea added, describing the current political structure as a "failure."

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has hit out at Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil over the files of the presidential vote and the caretaker cabinet.

“We understand that some religious leaders are practicing political and media pressure on the political forces represented in parliament to expedite the presidential election, but one must refrain from sectarian incitement,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech, in an apparent jab at al-Rahi.

The caretaker cabinet convened Wednesday for the second time at the Grand Serail to discuss the electricity file and other items.

Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar attended the session despite a decision by the Free Patriotic Movement to boycott any caretaker cabinet session.