U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker is expected to meet with President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace during his four-day visit to Beirut as part of Lebanon’s historic sea border talks with Israel, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday postponed the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier to October 22.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Wednesday that the LF-led Strong Republic bloc will not vote for ex-PM Saad Hariri in the binding parliamentary consultations that will be held Thursday to name a new premier.

A Mustaqbal bloc delegation led by MP Bahia Hariri on Wednesday held separate meetings with Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc and the Strong Lebanon bloc of the Free Patriotic Movement.

Representatives from the governments of Israel, Lebanon, and the United States met on October 14 to launch discussions aimed at “reaching consensus on a common Israel-Lebanon maritime boundary,” the U.S. and the U.N. said on Wednesday.  

Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, has said that a Lebanese-Israeli agreement on maritime border demarcation is the "best option for Lebanon so that it could start work in Block 9."

Hizbullah and the Amal Movement of Speaker Nabih Berri released a joint statement early Wednesday expressing reservations that the Lebanese team to the border talks with Israel includes civilians, calling for the delegation to be reformed so that it only includes members of the military.

"This harms Lebanon's position and interests... and amounts to giving in to the Israeli logic that seeks some form of normalization," they said.

The Presidency’s press office on Tuesday noted that claims that President Michel Aoun has violated the Constitution “weaken the Lebanese position” in the border demarcation negotiations with Israel.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe announced Tuesday that by holding maritime border demarcation talks with Israel, Lebanon will not be “recognizing” Israel as a state nor “normalizing” ties with it.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday hit out at ex-PM Saad Hariri and proposed a constitutional amendment related to the designation of premiers and the formation of cabinets.