The Lebanese Forces emphasized eagerness to maintain good relations with President Michel Aoun, voicing fears that outgoing Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil “seeks to break” their ties with the “presidential term,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

A human rights watchdog has said the Syrian government is passing laws to allow itself to seize private property, displace residents, and discourage refugees from returning to the war-battered country.

Human Rights Watch said a 2018 property law, known as Law 10 and slammed by several Lebanese officials, empowers authorities to confiscate property without compensating the owners or giving them an opportunity to appeal.

First Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghaida approved on Tuesday the release of detained Lt. Col. Suzanne al-Hajj on bail after being accused in March of fabricating a spying for Israel case against comedian Ziad Itani.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday slammed as “incorrect” remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron that Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri had been detained in Riyadh back in November.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday after the trip was “postponed for a few days for unknown reasons,” the daily al-Akhbar reported.

One of the "main obstacles" facing PM-designate Saad Hariri’s bid to form a new government is “Hizbullah’s demand that a ministerial seat be allocated to a Sunni deputy close to the party,” the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Tuesday.

Head of the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Monday said the minorities in Lebanon should be represented in the government, adding that his bloc demands the allocation of either the Finance Ministry or the Interior Ministry in the new Cabinet.

The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Pernille Dahler Kardel said that staging the parliamentary elections was a “great accomplishment,” as she stressed the need to “keep the specter of war away from Lebanon,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Monday held one-day, unbinding consultations with the parliamentary blocs and deputies in Nejmeh Square, kicking off his bid to form a new government.

Hariri first met with Speaker Nabih Berri, and afterwards met separately with former PM Tammam Salam and ex-PM Najib Miqati.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is set to begin lining up his government starting next week amid reports that the future Cabinet will see two new ministries added to the already 30-member assembly, the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily reported Saturday.

“Monday will see another day in the path of the Prime Minister in charge of forming an expanded government of national unity, as described by Speaker Nabih Berri, and it will be comprised of 32 ministers to include for the first time, minority Alawite and Christian ministers,” said the daily.