The Premiership on Monday criticized calls by politicians for “activating” the caretaker cabinet over the delay in forming a new government, saying the solution to the country’s multiple crises lies in putting together a new cabinet.

President Michel Aoun asserted that he “did not despair” on the success of initiatives aimed at easing the cabinet hurdles, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

Israeli troops opened gunfire towards the Lebanese territories near the southern town of Adaisseh on Monday, the National News Agency reported.

Military reports affirmed that the number of soldiers deserting the Lebanese army over a severe financial crisis is very “limited,” Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Monday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat warned Sunday that the circumstances in the country are “extraordinary and dire,” noting that he does not see an imminent solution.

“It seems that there will be no solution in the near future, because the solution will not come from abroad,” Jumblat said during a tour in the Aley region in which he met with Druze spiritual leaders.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday said Speaker Nabih Berri has not been an “impartial” mediator in the cabinet formation process, urging Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to step in as a “friend” and “referee.”

“I entrust him with the issue and I entrust him with the rights. He knows that we are being targeted and that everything happening is aimed at harming us and he knows that we have made several concessions in the governmental file,” Bassil said in a televised address.

The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stressed after talks with President Michel Aoun on Saturday that introducing reforms and forming a new government are imperative for any assistance the crisis-hit country could receive from foreign countries.

President Michel Aoun met at Baabda Palace on Saturday the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the National News Agency reported Saturday.

MTV television station said no meetings are scheduled for Borrell with Lebanon’s heads of political parties during his two-day visit to Beirut.

Egypt believes Lebanon should quickly form a much-needed new government, and that any further delay could aggravate the crises in the country, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

Lebanese authorities seized Friday millions of Captagon pills in the port of Beirut, placed in two containers loaded with stones and prepared for smuggling to Saudi Arabia.