Israeli Energy Minister Karen Elharrar held talks Thursday with visiting U.S. energy mediator Amos Hochstein, in the presence of the head of the Israeli delegation to the indirect negotiations with Lebanon.

“I will continue to work to create an agreement that will protect Israel's strategic and security assets,” Elharrar tweeted after her meeting with Hochstein.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati on Thursday responded to a new statement issued by the Presidency.

“Mr. Premier appreciates what was mentioned in the presidential statement’s third clause in terms of disavowing the insults that some of the president’s close associates are making… He also lauds Mr. President’s keenness on not insulting the Premiership post,” Mikati’s press office said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun announced Thursday that he is “waiting for a new approach” from PM-designate Najib Mikati in light of the observations he had voiced over the proposed cabinet line-up.

“The dire need today is for a fully constitutional government that can take executive decisions, not for statements and leaks that further complicate things,” the Presidency said in a statement.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said Thursday that a statement by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has put an end to the possibility of reaching a settlement over the Line 23.

Nasrallah had threatened, in a televised speech on Wednesday, to "flip the table on the entire world" if Lebanon does not get allowed to benefit from its offshore oil and gas resources.

The Finance and Budget Committee approved Thursday a $150 million World Bank wheat loan, head of the Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan said.

Kanaan said the committee will press the Cabinet for a unified exchange rate in order to approve the 2022 state budget.

FPM chief Jebran Bassil said Thursday that the resistance is a strong point for Lebanon "if we know how to use it."

"We want to preserve national dignity and sovereignty," Bassil said in a short recorded video that he posted on his twitter account.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati had called President Michel Aoun last week to meet with him over the government formation, Mikati's press office said in a statement.

"We will get back to you shortly," Mikati's office quoted the chief of Presidential Protocol as saying. "But they haven't called back since," the statement said.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday announced a new equation resembling his famous “beyond, beyond Haifa” slogan during the 2006 war, threatening to “flip the table on the entire world” if Lebanon does not get allowed to benefit from its offshore oil and gas resources.

“For the first time in the history of the Zionist entity, the resistance launched three drones at the same time and towards the same target, and we have the ability to send armed drones of various sizes and with bigger numbers,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech, referring to Hezbollah’s sending of three unarmed drones towards the Israeli-operated Karish gas field ten days ago.

Head of the Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Wednesday that the Finance Subcommittee has reviewed a reformed bank secrecy law and will send it to the Finance and Budget committee for approval.

The Finance and Budget Committee will discuss the law tomorrow, Thursday, along with the World Bank wheat loan.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday that the salary disparity between the different categories of public sector employees would lead to a greater collapse and will have social and economic repercussions.

Berri called for rectifying the salaries' issue, even if it requires to immediately freeze the decision "before it is too late."