Beirut is the second stop in a series of visits made by European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas to engage with partner countries, which are key in helping the European Union to put a stop to the unscrupulous instrumentalization and weaponization of people by the Lukashenko regime.

"Change is happening," Schinas said, adding that he was in Dubai Thursday and that he was "impressed by the commitment of authorities of the UAE to work with us to put an end to these practices."

Information Minister George Kordahi announced Friday that he would consider resigning if Saudi Arabia offers Lebanon “guarantees” on reversing the measures it has taken since the eruption of the diplomatic row related to his remarks on the Yemen war.

“I’m not clinging to any ministerial post and I don’t want to challenge anyone from my position, neither the premier nor the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which I love,” Kordahi said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Dr Najat Rochdi, said that from the end of September, and as part of the Emergency Response Plan launched by humanitarian actors to step up assistance for the most vulnerable populations affected by the on-going crisis in Lebanon, 3.1 million liters of fuel have been provided to 515 critical facilities delivering vital services, including over 195 health facilities and 320 water pumping stations so far.

Rochdi added that “this exceptional fuel distribution to healthcare and water facilities across Lebanon has been ensuring provision of critical health, water and sanitation services to the most vulnerable populations affected by the ongoing energy crisis and preserve lifesaving humanitarian activities in all districts.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has announced that he does not want to be part of an “anti-Hizbullah front.”

“I don’t want to join an anti-Hizbullah political front. My (recent) stance was spontaneous and a description of a harsh reality. We are suffocating and we had to scream,” Jumblat said in an interview with French-language daily L’Orient-Le Jour.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday urged Lebanese abroad to turn out heavily in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“Lebanon is sick at the moment and it needs an essential surgery, a surgery that is possible and whose success chances are high, if we all pray for Lebanon and grant it our votes,” Geagea said in a message to expats.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday said he does not want to “escalate” things in the diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia but stressed that Lebanon should reject “submission and humiliation.”

“Saudi Arabia stirred the latest crisis with Lebanon and we want things to calm down,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking Hizbullah’s Martyr Day.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday noted that he is “dealing positively and openly with the challenges,” while pointing out that there are “limits” for his flexibility.

“It is true that I am dealing positively and openly with the challenges, no matter their magnitude, and I’m giving discussion and dialogue their maximum capacity, but it is also true that dialogue stops at the limits of national and personal beliefs from which I will never deviate,” Miqati said at a ceremony in Tripoli.

Israel has warned Hizbullah against initiating any military action, as it announced that it is willing to offer “concessions” in the negotiations over offshore gas and oil resources.

“We don’t fear Hizbullah’s military power and if it decides to attack us, it will pay a hefty price along with Lebanon,” Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath TV quoted a senior Israeli security source as saying.

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki has said that the Lebanese officials are “keen on doing what it takes to serve Lebanon’s interests.”

He pointed out, in a televised interview, that the Lebanese leaders’ stance can break down the wall between Lebanon and the Gulf, “despite Hizbullah’s objection.”

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Wednesday stressed that “it was Saudi Arabia that started the problem with Lebanon” and not the other way around, amid an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with Riyadh and other Gulf capitals.

“We don’t demand anything from it other than stopping its interference in our domestic affairs,” Qassem added.