A French foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said Paris "regrets the suspension" of the probe into the Beirut port blast, urging the Lebanese judiciary to work "in total transparency, and without any political interference" so that investigations could proceed.

"It is up to the Lebanese authorities to allow the probe to continue with all the necessary financial and human resources so it can shed light on what happened on Aug. 4 and meet the legitimate expectations of the Lebanese people," French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre told reporters in Paris.

The new government held its first meeting Wednesday since it won a vote of confidence last week.

The president and prime minister authorized a committee to resume bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund over Lebanon's worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history. Talks with the IMF were suspended last year.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday said that the investigation into the catastrophic 2020 explosion at the Port of Beirut must continue, three days after it was suspended due to a challenge filed by ex-minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.

“Any judicial investigation is not the (entire) judiciary. If it errs, there are three degrees for correction: the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation,” Aoun tweeted.

Contacts have begun between Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to secure a new loan for Elecricite du Liban, al-Akhbar newspaper said.

Informed sources told the newspaper, in remarks published Wednesday, that Salameh is “showing readiness to finance a $200-300 million loan -- to be secured from the funds that were being used to import diesel and not from the obligatory reserves.”

UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday in a press release that they are "deeply concerned about the rapid deterioration in the living conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon."

"Almost the entire Syrian refugee population cannot afford the survival minimal expenditure basket," the statement said.

European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf on Tuesday held a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

In a tweet after the talks, Tarraf said the meeting was "constructive and action-oriented."

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday called on the lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast Tarek Bitar to “abide by the constitution,” as he noted that he will not visit Syria if that will subject Lebanon to sanctions.

Relatives of the Beirut port blast victims on Tuesday warned that they would take action that would “change the face of Lebanon” if the probe into the catastrophic explosion came to an end, a day after the investigation was suspended following a lawsuit from ex-minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.

“We call on the Lebanese to gather outside the Justice Palace tomorrow at 1:00 pm and we will announced the plan that will change the face of Lebanon,” the families said.

Saadallah al-Solh – owner of the ammonium nitrate truck seized in Bekaa – was referred to the competent judiciary, along with Maroun al-Sakr and two Syrian workers, the army said Tuesday.

The army added that al-Solh had bought the dangerous chemical in March from Maroun al-Sakr and the two Syrian workers had transported the nitrates.

The members of the U.N. Security Council have welcomed the announcement of the formation of a new government in Lebanon led by Prime Minister Najib Miqati and the September 20 vote of confidence by parliament as “necessary first steps towards the resolution of Lebanon’s crisis.”

In a statement, they reaffirmed their “strong support for the stability, security, territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon, consistent with Security Council resolutions 1701 (2006), 1680 (2006), 1559 (2004), and 2591 (2021), as well as other relevant Security Council resolutions and statements of the President of the Security Council on the situation in Lebanon.”