Israel's prime minister has vowed to begin production at a contested Mediterranean natural gas field "as soon as it is possible," threatening to raise tensions with Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Yair Lapid's announcement in a statement from his office came at a sensitive time in long-running efforts by a U.S. mediator to resolve a dispute over the countries' maritime border. U.S. officials have said they are making progress, but need more time to reach a solution.

In a war-scarred Beirut heritage house turned museum, archives of Lebanon's troubled past fuse with artistic depictions of its grim present to portray a country seemingly in perpetual turmoil.

Newspaper clippings, film negatives and diary entries from the years before Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war tell a story of government corruption, public sector strikes and student protests.

Caretaker Prime Minister and PM-designate Najib Mikati on Monday took part in the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Mikati was accompanied by his wife.

As the deadline for Lebanon’s presidential vote nears, the domestic haggling is being accompanied by European and Arab meetings, media reports said on Monday.

“A meeting has been held in Paris between French presidential advisor Patrick Durrell, French General Directorate for External Security head Bernard Émié, French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo, Saudi Royal Court advisor Nizar al-Aloula, a senior Saudi security official and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari,” al-Liwaa newspaper reported.

President Michel Aoun announced Monday that “the negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime border have become in their final stages, in a manner that guarantees Lebanon’s rights to gas and oil exploration in the specified fields in its Exclusive Economic Zone.”

Aoun voiced his remarks in a meeting in Baabda with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka.

A new government enjoying full constitutional powers will be formed soon and only four incumbent ministers will be changed, a senior political source said.

“The reshuffle will involve four ministers from the Christian, Sunni, Shiite and Druze sects,” the source told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Monday.

Demonstrators on Monday tried to storm the Justice Palace in Beirut in protest at the continued detention of two activists who had taken part in the “heist” that targeted BLOM Bank on Wednesday.

The protesters reportedly managed to remove the metallic gate of the Palace as they also blocked roads in the area and set fire to trash bins.

The Lebanese pound has hit a new low against the US dollar on the black market, a drop that coincides with bank closures this week due to heists by angry depositors.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday called for the formation of “a capable new government.”

He also called for “the election of a president before the end of the (incumbent) president’s term on October 31.”

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has condemned a recent amendment in the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed along the border with Israel.