Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan urged caution on Friday after confirming Lebanon’s first case of a new coronavirus variant on board a passenger plane coming from the UK.

Hassan said: “One case was registered on board an incoming flight from Britain on Monday.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi, expressed his dissatisfaction on Friday with the failure of his initiative to accelerate the formation of a rescue government, the National News Agency reported.

The US Caesar Act that punishes sides who cooperate with the Syrian regime, caused the electricity that Lebanon draws from Syria to be cut off more frequently, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported Friday.

Lebanon reportedly denied depositing with the United Nations, new maps that include its claim to the maritime borders with Israel, that are being negotiated indirectly under the UN and US auspices, noting that the only maps deposited in the international organization are the land borders map drawn in 1922, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported on Friday.

Israeli warplanes violated Lebanon's airspace late Thursday to carry out a strike in neighboring Syria, sparking panic among residents on Christmas Eve.

The jets were heard flying at low altitude over Beirut and Sidon shortly before the strikes. Social media reports also said that blasts were heard in the northern regions of Akkar and Tripoli. It was not immediately clear whether those were bombardment sounds or the sounds of jets breaking the sound barrier.

Pope Francis expressed his desire to visit crisis-hit Lebanon and urged political leaders to seek the best interest of the Lebanese people in Christmas Eve message.

The complex of the Druze representation in the new government surfaced again with reports that an 18-seat, instead of 20, cabinet might be formed, which would automatically grant the single Druze seat to the Progressive Socialist Party of ex-MP Walid Jumblat, Asharq el-Awsat newspaper reported Thursday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi on Thursday criticized Lebanon’s leaders for failing to form a government, voicing calls to distance Lebanon from “your personal interests and the regional conflicts.”

Circles of Baabda Palace lashed back at the Center House on Thursday saying there were “no bats in the Palace,” and that the Presidency has always been eager to work “publicly, clearly and with transparency.”

Four people were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of torching a Christmas tree in northern Lebanon, the National News Agency said.

"Army intelligence agents arrested four people suspected of having torched a Christmas tree yesterday morning in the town of Seer al-Dinniyeh," NNA added.