President Michel Aoun said Thursday that Lebanon’s remarks over U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein’s latest proposal “guarantee Lebanon’s right to oil and gas exploration in the fields specified in the Exclusive Economic Zone.”

“These remarks also prevent any interpretations that do not conform to the framework specified by Lebanon for the demarcation process during the negotiations that lasted for months,” Aoun added, during a meeting with caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim.

A Lebanese official involved in the negotiations to demarcate the sea border between Lebanon and Israel told AFP on Thursday that "Lebanon has not yet been notified of Israel's response,” shortly after a senior Israeli official said that Israel will reject Lebanon's latest amendments to a U.S.-drafted proposal.

The official, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the talks, said Beirut's negotiators had been working with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein "all night... to clarify some points."

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati held talks Thursday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mikati said he briefed the patriarch on “the important issue that is about to be finalized, which is related to the demarcation of the maritime border.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled a second presidential election session for Thursday, October 13.

The session will be held at 11:00 am.

MPs Walid al-Baarini, Mohammed Suleiman, Ahmed al-Kheir and Sajih Atiyeh of Akkar’s National Moderation Bloc, accompanied by the bloc’s secretary ex-MP Hadi Hbeish, on Wednesday held talks Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel and MPs Nadim Gemayel and Salim al-Sayegh at Kataeb’s headquarters in Saifi.

“We discussed what gathers us, especially the attempt to devise a common strategy for the presidential election,” Sami Gemayel said after the meeting.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday announced that his party’s parliamentary bloc “will continue to back MP Michel Mouawad’s nomination” for the presidency.

“He represents a choice and project that resemble us in terms of his understanding of national sovereignty and his faith in building a state and a non-corrupt administration,” Geagea said, in a Maarab meeting with French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo.

A Lebanese lawmaker entered a bank branch unarmed on Wednesday with two of her lawyers to free trapped dollar deposits she needs to pay for surgery, her lawyer said.

Cynthia Zarazir, who was elected to parliament in May polls, is the latest in a growing number of angry depositors who are forcing Lebanese lenders to unlock savings trapped under informal capital controls imposed amid an unprecedented financial crisis.

The International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG) on Wednesday emphasized “the importance of electing within the timeframe set by the Constitution, a new President who could unite the Lebanese people and work with all regional and international actors to overcome the economic and humanitarian crisis for the greater public good, most immediately by paving the way for comprehensive reforms and an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”

The Karama Beirut Human Rights Film Festival (KBHRFF) kicked-off on Sunday evening at Sunflower Theater in Tayyouneh, Beirut, under the theme “The First Gate” in the run-up to the United Nations Day, which is the day the organization celebrates its establishment when the U.N. Charter entered into force on 24 October 1945.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Tuesday blamed the state and the central bank for the country’s “extended systemic crisis,” while calling on depositors to engage with it in dialogue, after five banks were stormed in less than 48 hours in a new wave of bank heists.