The Supreme Islamic Shiite Council held an “emergency” meeting on Friday and rejected in a statement the invitation of Libya --which it blames for the disappearance of AMAL Movement founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr-- to Beirut’s Economic Summit, as it warned of the consequences.

As Israel continues construction works on disputed points along the Blue Line, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti assured that efforts are being exerted to avoid any “misunderstanding and find a mutual solutions for the issue,” the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is not going to concede or negotiate his share in the government, he is waiting for Hizbullah and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil to either reach an agreement or “end their complicity” over the ministerial seat they are “fighting over,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

Hariri’s al-Mustaqbal Movement sources stressed in remarks to the newspaper that the PM “is not going to lead the government weak,” noting that attempts to pressure the PM by introducing “initiatives” --in reference to suggestions made by Bassil-- that make him offer concessions “won’t lead to a government formation.”

Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemned on Friday the Israeli violations against Lebanon’s sovereignty following Israel’s construction works on disputed points along the Blue Line near the Misgav Am settlement, the National News Agency reported.

“The Security Council should meet and the international community should deal with this clear and frank violation of Resolution 1701, as it did with the complaint made by the Israeli enemy,” a ministry statement said.

Another Lebanese newspaper has decided to stop printing and go fully online in the face of the deteriorating readership of print media in Lebanon and the world.

“Faced by the transformations that the press industry is witnessing in Lebanon and the world, and the continuous decline in sales and advertising revenues in the local marker, the administration of al-Mustaqbal Newspaper has decided to stop issuing the daily’s print edition as of February 1, 2019,” it said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun held talks Thursday with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri ahead of an emergency meeting for the country’s Higher Defense Council.

A statement issued after the Council's meeting said discussions focused on “the developments on the southern border, especially the construction works that the Israeli enemy is carrying out to build a separation wall on disputed points along the Blue Line near the Misgav Am settlement.”

The United States will not tolerate the “status quo” that Hizbullah has created in Lebanon, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.

"In Lebanon, Hizbullah is a major presence, but we won’t accept this as the status quo. Our aggressive sanctions campaign against Iran is also directed at the terror group and its leaders, including the son of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hizbullah," Pompeo said in a speech at the American University of Cairo.

The Consultative Gathering, a grouping of six Hizbullah-backed Sunni MPs, on Thursday voiced support for calls to postpone Beirut’s upcoming Arab economic situation to ensure Syria’s participation in it.

“Avoiding the invitation of Syria to the summit is not beneficial for Lebanon, which has endorsed the dissociation policy,” MP Faisal Karami announced after the Gathering’s periodic meeting, saying “it is okay to postpone the economic summit until Syria regains its normal place in the Arab League.”

President Michel Aoun on Thursday lamented what he called “the regional influences” on Lebanon’s “domestic situation,” amid a protracted government formation deadlock.

“We were hoping to achieve our wishes last year, but unfortunately the formation of the government faltered after elections and a number of developments occurred in the region,” Aoun said at the Baabda Palace during a meeting with the members of the consular corps.

An Israeli tank was positioned behind a dirt cover in the settlement of Misgav Am while the Israeli forces resumed digging and installing cement blocks along the technical fence in the outskirts of Adaisseh village in Marjayoun, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

The enemy deployed a number of soldiers while the Lebanese Army and the international emergency forces patrolled the area, NNA added.