Lebanon’s Druze leader and former Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat told Syria’s state TV on Wednesday that “Israel is not protecting the Druze in (the unrest-hit Syrian city of Sweida), but is rather using some of the weak-minded to claim that it is protecting them.”

President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday strongly condemned the violent Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, calling them “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of a brotherly Arab country, international law and the U.N. Charter.”

Lawmakers convened Wednesday for the second day in Parliament to debate the government's policies. During the session, MPs mainly discussed Hezbollah's arms and Israeli violations and renewed confidence in the Lebanese government.

The no-confidence vote was proposed by Free Patriotic chief Jebran Bassil. Sixty-nine MPs gave a vote of confidence to the government, nine FPM MPs voted against it, and four MPs abstained.

The U.S. response to the latest Lebanese paper requested some clarifications as to “timetables and the executive mechanisms” for resolving the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons, media reports said.

The Lebanese government survived Wednesday a vote of confidence proposed by Free Patriotic chief Jebran Bassil during a plenary session in Parliament.

Sixty-nine MPs gave a vote of confidence to the government, nine FPM MPs voted against it, and four MPs abstained.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has described the Lebanese Central Bank’s decision to bar banks and brokerages from dealing with the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Qard Al-Hasan financial institution as a “step in the right direct by the Lebanese government.”

As lawmakers convened Wednesday for the second day in Parliament to debate the government's policies, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed that the government will continue working on extending the state’s authority north and south of the Litani river.

"I have listened to the MPs' views and interventions, and I will take all criticisms seriously. We are determined to continue our work despite the difficulties and obstacles," Salam said, adding that the government is committed to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territories and stop its aggressions.

The Central Bank of Lebanon has said that licensed financial institutions are "barred from any dealings with unlicensed financial institutions, such as the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association," the financial arm of Hezbollah.

In a circular, the Central Bank said banks, financial institutions and other institutions licensed by the Central Bank, as well as financial intermediaries and collective investment schemes, are barred from engaging in any transactions -- financial, commercial, or otherwise, directly or indirectly, fully or partially -- with “unlicensed exchange institutions, money transfer companies, associations and entities.”

Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan criticized Tuesday the government's lack of progress in restoring the state's authority and disarming Hezbollah as lawmakers convened in a plenary session focused on Hezbollah's disarmament.

"We don't want the government of hope to become a government of missed opportunities," Adwan said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel’s airstrikes on the Bekaa earlier in the day were a “clear message” to Hezbollah and Lebanon’s government, accusing Hezbollah of plotting to restore its Radwan force’s ground incursion capabilities.