MP Assem Araji, the head of the Parliamentary Health Committee, noted Saturday that the government’s decision to end the initial coronavirus lockdown was not based on a scientific vision.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Saturday warned that “the Lebanese south is being tampered with on the altar of regional policies,” days after a flare-up on the border with Israel amid tensions with Hizbullah.

President Michel Aoun on Saturday emphasized that Lebanon will defend itself against any Israeli attack.

Israeli media said the Israeli army received an order to “strike” specific “Lebanese” targets shall Hizbullah carry out any retaliatory attack against Israel, media reports said on Friday.

President Michel Aoun is scheduled to deliver a speech on Saturday marking Army Day, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said on Friday that the prospects of an Israeli war with Lebanon are “unlikely,” adding that both parties realize that major losses could be entitled as a result.

Grand Shiite Jaafarite Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan said on Friday that neutrality in Lebanon is “impossible because it is inapplicable.”

Prime Minister Hassan Diab said during a meeting Thursday at the Grand Serail with a delegation from the French Embassy in Beirut, that a French proposal to provide Lebanon with technical financial assistance “is being studied.”

Protests against Lebanon’s aggravating economic and electricity crisis expanded on Thursday amid widespread blackouts that saw the majority of Lebanese areas drenched in darkness amid an uncommon heat wave hitting the region.

Lebanese protesters in Jounieh tried on Thursday to storm into the state-run Electricite Du Liban offices complaining against continued power cuts. They chanted slogans and threats that they won’t pay their due electricity bills.

Jawad Nasrallah, son of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has reportedly survived an assassination attempt weeks ago in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Kuwaiti al-Jarida newspaper said on Thursday.