The opposition will hold a meeting in Maarab at 7:00 pm to announce support for Army chief Joseph Aoun’s presidential nomination, media reports said on Wednesday, a day prior to a presidential election session called for by Speaker Nabih Berri.

The United Nations joined the Lebanese government to appeal for an additional $371.4 million in humanitarian aid for people displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

The extension builds on an initial aid appeal for $426 million launched in October, as all-out war flared between the two sides and sent hundreds of thousands in Lebanon fleeing their homes.

Lebanese political heavyweights held talks Wednesday a day ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a president, but even with key player Hezbollah weakened by war, there is no guarantee of consensus.

The tiny Mediterranean country, already deep in economic and political crisis, has been without a president for more than two years amid bitter divisions between Hezbollah and its opponents.

The Lebanese government said it has decided to grant an Emirati request to hand over Egyptian opposition activist Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, son of the late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qaradawi, also wanted by the Egyptian authorities, was arrested in Lebanon late last month after he crossed the border from Syria, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP at the time.

Caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati is to visit Damascus "soon", the information minister said on Tuesday -- the first such visit since Islamist-led rebels seized power in Syria last month.

"There will be a visit to Syria soon, headed by Prime Minister Mikati," Ziad Makari told reporters after a cabinet meeting. Last week, Mikati’s office said he had a phone call with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who invited him to Damascus.

U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers, the Chairman of the Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism, was joined by French Brigadier General Guillaume Ponchin on a visit to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) 5th Brigade headquarters in southwest Lebanon on Tuesday morning, the U.S. Embassy said.

The opposition and change MPs will have a “unified plan” in the January 9 presidential election session, MP George Okais announced after a meeting for the opposition and change MPs on Tuesday.

Paris is counting on U.S.-Saudi efforts to convince Speaker Nabih Berri to endorse Joseph Aoun’s presidential nomination, especially after U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh, An-Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein has told Lebanon that the United States has not received any message from Israel about an intention to keep Israeli forces in south Lebanon beyond January 27, informed sources said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday described the Hezbollah-led “defiance camp” as a “liar” camp, but noted that the LF is however willing to “carefully consider” the nomination of Army chief Joseph Aoun if the defiance camp officially endorses him for the presidency.