FPM chief Jebran Bassil said Thursday that the resistance is a strong point for Lebanon "if we know how to use it."

"We want to preserve national dignity and sovereignty," Bassil said in a short recorded video that he posted on his twitter account.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati had called President Michel Aoun last week to meet with him over the government formation, Mikati's press office said in a statement.

"We will get back to you shortly," Mikati's office quoted the chief of Presidential Protocol as saying. "But they haven't called back since," the statement said.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday announced a new equation resembling his famous “beyond, beyond Haifa” slogan during the 2006 war, threatening to “flip the table on the entire world” if Lebanon does not get allowed to benefit from its offshore oil and gas resources.

“For the first time in the history of the Zionist entity, the resistance launched three drones at the same time and towards the same target, and we have the ability to send armed drones of various sizes and with bigger numbers,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech, referring to Hezbollah’s sending of three unarmed drones towards the Israeli-operated Karish gas field ten days ago.

Head of the Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Wednesday that the Finance Subcommittee has reviewed a reformed bank secrecy law and will send it to the Finance and Budget committee for approval.

The Finance and Budget Committee will discuss the law tomorrow, Thursday, along with the World Bank wheat loan.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday that the salary disparity between the different categories of public sector employees would lead to a greater collapse and will have social and economic repercussions.

Berri called for rectifying the salaries' issue, even if it requires to immediately freeze the decision "before it is too late."

Victims of Lebanon's deadly 2020 port blast have filed a quarter-billion-dollar lawsuit against a US firm for its suspected links to the tragedy, a Swiss foundation assisting the plaintiffs said Wednesday.

Accountability Now said in a statement that the claim was filed this week in Texas against US-Norwegian geophysical services group TGS.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo met Wednesday with President Michel Aoun to discuss the Lebanese-French ties and the latest political developments in Lebanon.

Grillo stressed the necessity of respecting the constitutional deadlines in the government formation and in the presidential election and the importance of reaching positive results in the mediated negotiations over the sea border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said Wednesday there is no escape from the necessity of carrying out reforms.

"Some say that the large number of tourists is a sign of prosperity and they forget that the Central Bank's reserves are declining every day as a result of the absence of basic reforms," Jumblat tweeted.

Circles close to the Free Patriotic Movement told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Wednesday, that the worst thing that might happen is to give the presidential powers to a caretaker government.

The sources urged for a quick formation before the end of President Michel Aoun's term.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil accused Wednesday Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati of seeking constitutional means in order to keep the caretaker government and avoid forming a new cabinet.

"Mikati doesn't want to form a new government," Bassil said in a statement.