Hezbollah said Tuesday it has fired overnight a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli warplane that "violated Lebanese airspace", forcing it to retreat beyond the border.

Since the border clashes erupted on October 8 following Israel's war on Gaza, Hezbollah has shot down several Israeli drones, including some that they identified as Hermes 450s or Hermes 900s. Last Thursday, Hezbollah used anti-aircraft missiles against Israeli jets for the first time. It used them again on Sunday.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil stressed Tuesday that the only solution for the presidential vacuum crisis would be “agreeing on a president” prior to the vote.

“There is no interest in the continuation of the presidential vacuum because it is harming the country,” said Bassil after meeting with MP Faisal Karameh.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has sarcastically responded to remarks voiced by Speaker Nabih Berri regarding Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil’s presidential proposals.

“I congratulate Speaker Berri on Bassil. Anyhow, birds of a feather flock together,” MTV quoted Geagea as telling his visitors.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has lauded the latest stances of Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil regarding the presidential crisis.

“Bassil spoke of consensus and has supported dialogue with my mechanism and under my chairmanship, and in this regard Jebran is better than the others,” Berri told al-Jadeed television.

The Lebanese Forces on Monday hit back at remarks by Speaker Nabih Berri, stressing that the “consultations” that he is calling for are not “obligatory as he is saying.”

“There is not any constitutional text that says that ‘consultations are the obligatory pathway’ and we call on Speaker Berri and others to abide by the constitution and its texts,” the LF’s media department added in a statement.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said there is no backing down from presidential consultations.

Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Monday, that consultations are "obligatory" to break the presidential deadlock, accusing "some" parties of obstructing the election of a president.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Monday held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, as part of a series of meetings he has launched to discuss the presidential crisis.

“We agreed that consensus would be much better than election and what’s important is to secure the success of the presidential tenure alongside securing the election itself,” Bassil said after the meeting.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh has called for “accepting the principle of dialogue and agreeing on a full package” or “going to elections between the two main political camps in the country,” noting that he and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea would represent the two camps in such an election.

“We would congratulate the winner,” he added, noting that such an approach would “restore the prestige of the presidential vote, the presidential race and the presidency itself.”

Hezbollah targeted Monday several Israeli posts, in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanese villages.

The group said it attacked with suicide drones a command center east of the Mediterranean seaside town of Nahariya, in response to strikes on the southern border villages of Aitaroun and Markaba that killed two Hezbollah members Saturday.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has kicked off an initiative related to the presidential vote by meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

“We are carrying out an effort to agree on a consensual president based on two conditions: building the state and protecting Lebanon, and these individuals are present if we truly want to elect a president,” Bassil said after the meeting.