Prime Minister Saad Hariri met Wednesday at the Grand Serail with Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and discussed with him the latest political and economic developments in the country, the premier’s office said.

Asked about the talks, Bassil told MTV that his ties with Hariri are “always fine.”

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Wednesday filed a request for the formation of a parliamentary panel of inquiry to probe why Lebanon’s three firefighting planes have been unfunctional since 2014, a day after wildfires engulfed the country and prompted Lebanon to ask Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Jordan to send firefighting aircraft.

“Fires destroyed vast areas of forestland due to the government’s shortcomings and negligence in performing maintenance on the firefighting planes, leaving a lot of Lebanese areas and citizens under the mercy of the flames that besieged their homes, centers and vehicles,” Gemayel said at a press conference in Parliament.

The Internal Security Forces on Wednesday denied reports claiming that an arson suspect was arrested Tuesday in connection with the massive wildfires that engulfed the country.

“A video showing a municipal policeman beating up a person has been circulated on social media and reports said that the beaten person was setting up fires,” the ISF said in a statement.

A meeting was held Tuesday evening at the residence of former minister Ghazi Aridi , as part of regular meetings between the leaders of Hizbullah and the Progressive Socialist Party.

Israeli troops resumed installations on Wednesday of a cement barrier between Lebanon and the occupied territories of Palestine, the National News Agency reported.

Industry Minister Wael Abou Faour on Wednesday stressed the need to kick start a forestation plan in the aftermath of wildfires that spread throughout parts of Lebanon, pointing out that efforts will be joined to compensate for those affected.

Civil Defense Director General Raymond Khattar on Wednesday said new “limited” blazes were reported in several Lebanese regions and that efforts are underway to extinguish them.

The Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc on Tuesday noted that it does not want to “turn the tables” on political rivals in the country but rather on corruption and the financial and economic situation.

“When we say that we want to turn the tables we don't mean that we will turn them against anyone but rather on the financial and economic situations,” bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after a weekly meeting, clarifying recent remarks by the head of the bloc – FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil.

Wildfires that spread across vast areas of Lebanon started to subside Tuesday evening with the fall of rain, amid strenuous efforts by the Civil Defense and firefighters and volunteers from across the country.

By 7:00 pm, blazes were still raging in Chouf's al-Dibbiyeh and Dmit and Aley's Kfarmatta as rain contributed to containing the flames in ِAley's Baawarta and south Lebanon.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has met with Marada Movement leader ex-MP Suleiman Franjieh, Hizbullah announced on Tuesday, days after the party’s leader met with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil.

“The meeting witnessed a thorough and comprehensive discussion of the various regional developments, especially the latest developments in the Iraqi and Syrian arenas,” a Hizbullah statement said.