General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and Hezbollah coordination and liaison officer Wafiq Safa met Wednesday in Sin el-Fil with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, MTV reported.

“The meeting, which lasted around an hour and was followed by a several-minute meeting between Ibrahim and Safa, tackled the governmental file and the efforts aimed at forming a government prior to the end of President Michel Aoun’s term,” the TV network added.

Caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad announced Wednesday that cholera is rapidly spreading among Syrian refugees in Lebanon while warning that cases are on the rise among Lebanese citizens.

“We all know that the issue of water and the means to provide clean water are important as to the issue of the spread of cholera and we are doing efforts in this regard,” Abiad said at a press conference.

MP Ibrahim Mneimneh has snapped back at his colleague in the Change bloc MP Mark Daou over the elections of the parliamentary committees that took place on Tuesday.

“These remarks are inaccurate. Out of respect for fellowship, I won’t say more than this,” Mneimneh said, in response to a tweet by Daou.

U.S. energy mediator Amos Hochstein will visit Beirut next week to submit a U.S.-signed demarcation proposal, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said.

Last week, Lebanon and Israel said they agreed on the terms of the U.S.-mediated deal over a maritime border dispute involving offshore gas fields.

The Trade and Investment Facilitation (TIF) Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), on Tuesday launched an energy audit program in partnership with the Michel Daher Social Foundation (MDSF) for industrial facilities in Lebanon’s Bekaa region.

The 16-month long program will support 17 Bekaa manufacturers to optimize efficiency of energy consumption through conservation measures and renewable energy solutions. The partnership will include training on renewable energy technologies, along with an extensive on-site and off-site energy audit program that will identify three types of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs). USAID, through TIF, will then support industrialists in implementing appropriate solutions to identify energy inefficiencies including the installation of renewable energy solutions.

MP Michel Douaihy on Tuesday announced his withdrawal from the reformist, 13-member Change bloc, citing disagreements within the nascent grouping of MPs.

“I’m permanently outside the 13-member Change bloc in its current format. I support turning the bloc into a monthly (or according to need) consultative gathering, while granting a margin of freedom to all MPs in all issues,” Douaihy tweeted.

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told a delegation from French oil giant TotalEnergies that exploration for gas in Lebanon’s offshort Block 9 “should start quickly to make up for the time that was lost during the indirect negotiations for the demarcation of the southern maritime border.”

According to the state-run National News Agency, the delegation briefed Aoun on the procedural and administrative preparations that TotalEnergies is carrying out in Lebanon ahead of the start of exploration in Block 9.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday accused the Change MPs of breaking an agreement for consensus in the elections of parliamentary committees, as the Change lawmakers lost several key seats.

The National News Agency said the structure of most parliamentary committees remained unchanged, except for a few members.

President Michel Aoun noted Tuesday that “those who contributed to ruining Lebanon cannot be able to rescue it.”

“And those who put obstacles in the way of combating corruption and achieving reform cannot be trusted in the phase of reviving the country. Accordingly, the change that the Lebanese aspire for must be realized,” the President added.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said Tuesday that “working in silence” is better, when asked about the cabinet formation developments.

“We have nothing to say and working in silence is better,” Mikati told al-Jadeed television.