Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel on Wednesday stressed that no one has the right to impose a certain “lifestyle” on the Lebanese, in response to remarks by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

“No one has the right to drag us into the place they want and no one has the right to impose on us a lifestyle that we don’t want,” said Gemayel at a press conference.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Wednesday denied that her country is blocking the entry of U.S. dollars into Lebanon.

In remarks to LBCI television, Shea added that claims that the United States is behind Lebanon’s economic crisis are false fabrications.

The Trump administration on Wednesday ramped up pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad and his inner circle with a raft of new economic and travel sanctions for human rights abuses and blocking a settlement of the country's bloody nine-year conflict.

The State Department said 39 Syrian individuals, including Assad and his wife, had been designated for the new sanctions. Others include members of the extended Assad family, senior military leaders and business executives. Many of those on the list were already subject to U.S. sanctions, but the penalties also target non-Syrians who do business with them.

President Michel Aoun said the various crises impacting Lebanon, mainly its financial crisis, are not easy to handle but assured that efforts are ongoing to address them.

Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said the central bank aims to bring the price of the US dollar down, in agreement with the licensed money changers, in order to help stabilize the prices, media reports said on Wednesday.

A new batch of U.S. sanctions “doesn’t” target Lebanon or any of the government institutions, but imposes sanctions on parties involved in money laundering or financing terrorism, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday distanced his party from the rioters who ransacked central Beirut in the weekend and denied seeking a government change, as he described the dollar shortage crisis as a U.S. "conspiracy."

"When protests erupted over the rise in the dollar exchange rate and acts of violence occurred in Beirut and Tripoli, some held the Shiite duo responsible and said the Shiite duo wanted to topple the government. In the past they said this is Hizbullah’s government, so is Hizbullah stupid to topple its government? This is a sign of confusion and absurdity," said Nasrallah in a televised speech.

Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan on Tuesday described his reconciliation meeting with Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat as “positive and frank” and “a continuation of the Baabda reconciliation that was made in August.”

The meeting was held Monday evening at Speaker Nabih Berri’s residence in Ain el-Tineh.

The Lebanese Army announced Tuesday that it has erected sand barricades on parts of the border with Syria.

“As part of the measures that the army is taking to control the border and prevent illegal smuggling operations, an army unity erected sand barriers on the Lebanese-Syrian border, specifically in the Bekaa area of Qanafez,” an army statement said.

The Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Daryl Mundis has designated three counsel to represent the victims participating in the Ayyash case relating to three attacks against Lebanese politicians Marwan Hamadeh on 1 October 2004, Georges Hawi on 21 June 2004 and Elias Murr, on 12 July 2005.