Hundreds of people have rallied in Beirut to protest measures imposed against the unvaccinated, saying individuals should have the right to decide whether to be inoculated or not.

Vaccination is not compulsory in Lebanon, but in recent days authorities have cracked down on people who are not inoculated or don't carry a negative PCR test.

Contacts are still ongoing between Free Patriotic Movement head Jebran Bassil and Hizbullah secretary-general’s aide Hussein Khalil as well as between ex-minister Ali Hassan Khalil and PM Najib Miqati in a bid to reach a solution for the government paralysis crisis, ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Saturday.

President Michel Aoun held talks Friday afternoon in Baabda with Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

Speaking after the talks, Miqati said Aoun requested the meeting to discuss his call for holding a national dialogue conference.

President Michel Aoun held talks Friday with visiting French senator Ronan Le Gleut, who was accompanied by the counselor of the French abroad for Lebanon and Syria, Lucas Lamah.

Le Gleut conveyed to Aoun French Senate President Gérard Larcher’s warm wishes with the beginning of the new year and his “permanent keenness on consolidating the ties of friendship between France and Lebanon in the various fields.”

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri announced Friday that he has discussed the issue of national dialogue in a phone call with President Michel Aoun.

A statement issued by Hariri’s office said the former premier called Aoun after the presidential palace telephoned the Center House regarding the President’s proposal about holding a national dialogue conference.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held separate talks Friday with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo.

In his meeting with Aoun, al-Rahi lauded “the Lebanese Army’s efforts to preserve the security of the country and citizens” and its “measures to prevent all kinds of smuggling.”

Hizbullah’s MP Ali Fayyad said that obstacles should be removed for Cabinet to convene.

"It is indispensable that Cabinet convenes, this is our conviction. But first we should remove the obstacles,” Fayyad said in a radio interview, adding that he expects a solution to be reached soon.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Friday that Parliament is "autonomous."

“There are no restrictions on the draft laws or proposals that the Parliament Bureau decides to discuss,” Berri affirmed.

Israeli security sources claimed Friday that drones captured after being flown across the frontier from neighboring Lebanon have provided insight into the growing aerial surveillance capabilities of Hizbullah.

Drones have become a regular feature of heavily guarded border between Lebanon and Israel

Prime Minister Najib Miqati will call for a Cabinet session in the upcoming hours, MP Ali Darwish, a member of Miqati’s bloc, said.

Darwish told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Friday, that he sees positivity after President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Miqati agreed on an extraordinary legislative session on Wednesday.