During the first cabinet session held at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Wednesday, President Michel Aoun made a number of “commandments” advising members of the cabinet to abide by in order to hold productive meetings away from “stalling and political debate,” al-Joumhouria daily reported Thursday.

Aoun expressed satisfaction with the course of the first cabinet meeting, saying it reflected the “current balance of power in the country.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault arrived in Beirut Wednesday evening on an official visit.

Armored personnel carriers provided by the United States to the Lebanese Armed Forces have been used by Hizbullah forces in Syria, a senior Israeli military official said on Wednesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that a ceasefire in Syria should not cover jihadist groups like the Islamic State group and the Fatah al-Sham Front, as well as groups like Lebanon's Hizbullah which fights on the regime side.

A senior Israeli military officer said Wednesday that the army believes Middle East's chaos has weakened the country's enemies, creating a low probability of war involving Israel in 2017.

A member of the extremist group Asbat al-Ansar was shot dead in Sidon's Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh on Wednesday, sparking violence that resulted in the death of two other people and the wounding of four others, the National News Agency reported.

At the junction of the camp's vegetable market, unknown gunmen opened fired at Samer Hmeid, also known as Samer Nejmeh, and the Palestinian Abed Saleh, which resulted in the death of Hmeid on the spot and the wounding of Saleh.

Following the recent assassination of the Russian ambassador in Turkey, the attack resonated in the capital Beirut and triggered some reactions where a group of youth wrote overnight slogans on the cement blocs surrounding the Russian embassy in Beirut's Corniche al-Mazraa area and managed to disappear, al-Joumhouria daily reported Wednesday.

A group of youth managed to sneak late on Tuesday and write slogans on the cement blocs around the embassy “denouncing the battle in Aleppo” and “declaring solidarity with the Syrian people and victims,” a security source told the daily on condition of anonymity.

Lebanon's council of ministers held its first meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Wednesday, after its formation over the weekend, and formed a committee designed to draft a new ministerial statement, media reports said.

The cabinet which brought together the entire political spectrum except for the Kataeb party, that rejected the portfolio it was offered, had a commemorative photo taken in the presence of the three senior officials President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri assumed his duties at the Grand Serail on Tuesday, two days after a new cabinet was lined-up.

Hariri arrived at noon at the Grand Serail and was welcomed by the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers Fouad Fleifel, and senior government staff at the Grand Serail that lies in downtown Beirut .

British Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood welcomed on Tuesday the formation of Lebanon's new cabinet reiterating the need to hold the parliamentary elections on time in line with international standards.

“I congratulate President Aoun and Prime Minister Hariri on the formation of Lebanon’s new cabinet. This is another important step forward for Lebanon, and I hope agreement of the cabinet further strengthens the trust and confidence of the Lebanese in their country’s political process,” a press statement said Tuesday.