Commenting on his meeting Tuesday with the ambassadors of the five-nation group of Lebanon, Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the circumstances have not “matured” yet regarding the presidential vote.

“There is slow progress, but things have not matured enough yet,” Berri said, in remarks published Wednesday in al-Akhbar newspaper.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acted defensive even though no one has accused him or Hezbollah of killing the LF local coordinator in Jbeil, Pascal Sleiman.

Geagea said in an interview Tuesday with Sky News Arabia that the LF had called for restraint and did not accuse Hezbollah of what he called a political assassination.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil told a delegation from the National Moderation bloc that there is a need for “consensus on a reformist, sovereign and patriotic president.”

“If that is not possible, democratic competition through voting remains much better than vacuum,” Bassil added.

Hezbollah said it fired fresh barrages of rockets across the border on Wednesday after an Israeli strike killed two civilians.

The Israeli army meanwhile said it struck 40 Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon as Israeli warplanes carried out 14 airstrikes on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab and Ramia.

Four ambassadors of the five-nation group for Lebanon met Tuesday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after a series of meetings with politicians and leaders in Beirut in an attempt to break the presidential impasse in Lebanon.

The ambassadors of Egypt, France, KSA, and Qatar and the Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. embassy in Beirut briefed Berri on the results of their meetings.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that “all efforts must be focused on finalizing the presidential juncture as soon as possible.”

As for remarks by some about serious efforts to wrap up the presidential file by May at the latest, Berri told al-Joumhouria newspaper that “what’s needed is the election of a president -- yesterday rather than today and today rather than tomorrow.”

Hezbollah waged Tuesday a combined drone attack with decoy and suicide drones on a command center near the occupied city of Akka.

Hezbollah said the air attack was in response to the killing of a Hezbollah fighter in Adloun and that the drones hit two Israeli bases in the Shraga barracks north of Akka.

Ministers met Tuesday at the Grand Serail in a ministerial, judicial and security meeting to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis.

The killing of Lebanese Forces Jbeil coordinator Pascal Sleiman earlier this month by a Syrian gang has triggered a backlash against Syrian refugees.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi has met in Beirut with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Várhelyi also met Monday with Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib, and the Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces Joseph Aoun.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has reassured residents of northern Israel that the "moment of truth" is approaching in terms of how to proceed militarily against Hezbollah.

"This is the operations front with the greatest and most urgent challenge, and this is how we must treat it," said Gantz.