The war in Ukraine and rising demand for natural gas around the world helped speed up a US-mediated maritime border deal between Lebanon and Israel, a prominent Lebanese legislator allied with the militant Hezbollah group said. The agreement is expected to help bring stability to the eastern Mediterranean.
Gebran Bassil, who is under sanctions by the US, also told The Associated Press in an interview at his office on Monday that "it would be a crazy act" if caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati does not form a new government before the six-year term of President Michel Aoun ends October 31. Disagreements between Aoun and Mikati have delayed the formation of a new Cabinet since May 15, following parliamentary elections. Since then, the government has been in a caretaker capacity.
Parliament failed during two sessions in recent weeks to elect a president and it is highly unlikely that a new head of state will be voted in to the country's top job before Aoun's term ends, leaving the country without a president.
Bassil is Aoun's son-in-law and heads the Christian nationalist Free Patriotic Movement founded by the president and has yet to endorse a candidate. Bassil, who heads a 21-member parliamentary bloc in the 128-member legislature, said that despite media reports, he does not see himself as a candidate.