Israeli President Shimon Peres stated on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad is “more brutal” and “less clever” than his late father Hafez, reported Israeli news website ynetnews.com.

He said while touring the Golan Heights with Israeli Chief of Staff Benny Gantz: “Assad’s fall will be a deathblow to Hizbullah.”

The head of the Israeli Northern Command Major General Yair Golan stated that Hizbullah’s possession of chemical weapons obligates Israel to take the necessary measures to combat them.

He added that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is a “legitimate” target for the Jewish state.

Head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Major-General Paolo Serra stressed on Wednesday the importance of marking the Blue Line which is an “essential task of the UNIFIL’s mandate.”

“Completing the process will reduce the potential for incidents and tensions in the area,” Serra said during a ceremony marking the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

The President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Sir Judge David Baragwanath held talks on Wednesday with General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza at the Justice Palace, reported the National News Agency.

Baragwanath thanked the Lebanese government and judiciary for their cooperation with the tribunal, starting with the initial investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Unknown assailants opened fire at the Maarab residence of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday, announced the LF media department in a statement.

The security personnel at the residence immediately headed to the scene where they found empty bullet shells belonging to a 12.7 sniper rifle, it said.

The family of Syrian dissident Shebli al-Aisamy denied on Wednesday allegations of his death.

It said in a statement: “We have confirmed reports that he was seen about a month ago in al-Mazzeh in Damascus.”

The Maronite bishops council condemned on Wednesday the escalatory tone that has been adopted by political officials in Lebanon.

It urged in a statement after its monthly meeting officials “to set as a priority the people’s concerns over their own.”

A Saudi national has filed a complaint of kidnapping and assault against four armed men, the National News Agency reported Wednesday.

It said Ahmed Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Shakhsi filed the complaint at the police station of al-Saadiyat town in Iqlim al-Kharroub, claiming that the gunmen kidnapped him on Monday from outside his house and returned him at dawn the next day.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and State Minister Nicolas Fattoush argued on Tuesday over donations to pay the fines of inmates whose sentenced have ended.

During a cabinet session held at the Grand Serail, Fattoush criticized Charbel for launching the campaign of the donations last month without the government’s approval.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumlat slammed on Wednesday Speaker Nabih Berri’s decision to hold a general discussion parliament to assess the government’s performance.

“It’s an incomplete step,” Jumblat described it.