Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said in his Christmas message on Tuesday that officials have brought Lebanon to economic and financial collapse and the Lebanese to poverty.

Lebanon’s demonstrators clearly conveyed to PM-designate Hassan Diab that they are not ready to extend support, or accept a PM designated by the “Shiite duo” (Hizbullah and AMAL Movement) and their allies, the Kuwaiti As-Siyasah newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri said there is nothing wrong with forming a “one-sided” government if the PM-designate Hassan Diab fails to convince all political parties to participate in the cabinet he is about to form, media reports said on Tuesday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has warned that the Chouf and Aley regions and the entire country are “on the brink of hunger” due to the dire economic crisis.

“The economy is on the verge of collapse if it is not already collapsing. Lebanon cannot continue on the same path it has followed for tens of years – a country of services, tourism, hotels, restaurants and banks without production – this is unhealthy,” said Jumblat in a phone call with a number of Lebanese expats in the U.S. and Canada, according to Lebanon’s official news agency.

Caretaker Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab on Monday blasted Israel for violating Lebanon’s airspace to carry out a strike on military posts in Syria.

“I’ve looked into the Lebanese Army’s report on the hostile Israeli violations of Lebanon’s skies yesterday, which targeted Syria via the Lebanese airspace,” Bou Saab tweeted.

MP Ibrahim Kanaan, the secretary of the Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc, on Monday announced that he would reveal good news to the Lebanese on Thursday.

“Can we tell people about something other than nagging, collapse and the blocking of roads and livelihoods?” Kanaan tweeted.

U.S. diplomat David Hale reportedly discussed during his visit to Lebanon last week with caretaker foreign Minister Jebran Bassil the possibility of a “prisoner swap” to free Lebanese-American ex-Israeli collaborator Amer Fakhoury in return for a Hizbullah "financier", reports said.

Hale and Bassil held a “lengthy meeting” at the latter’s residence in al-Bayyada on Saturday.

U.S. Diplomat David Hale reportedly told officials in Lebanon that his country is to withhold aid to the economic-stricken country if Hizbullah gets ministerial seats or indirectly controls the new government, Nidaa al-Watan daily reported on Monday.

The Italian Foreign Minister arrived in Beirut on an official visit, the Italian embassy in Beirut said on Monday.

Luigi Di met with his Lebanese counterpart caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and discussed the relations between Italy and Lebanon, and the latest developments in the Middle East, the National News Agency said.

Scuffles erupted Sunday after army troops at the al-Madfoun checkpoint stopped buses carrying protesters from the northern city of Tripoli.

The protesters were heading to a central demo in Beirut dubbed “Sunday of Rejection”, which comes after Hassan Diab was named PM-designate.