Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said ahead of traveling to the Vatican on Saturday that he trusted the government in its policies to resolve the case of Lebanese soldiers and policemen taken hostage by jihadists in August.

“We trust this government, which is working with wisdom and patience under Prime Minister Tammam Salam,” to secure the release of the captives, said al-Rahi at Rafik Hariri International Airport before catching his flight to the Vatican.

Jihadists, who have taken Lebanese soldiers and policemen as captives, are reportedly seeking to find a safe passage from the mountains on the Lebanese-Syrian border to the northeastern town of Arsal.

As Safir daily quoted informed sources as saying that the militants, who have been besieged in the area after the army blocked all dirt roads on the town's outskirts, are seeking the passage to guarantee their supply of food and oil.

Outgoing Israeli army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was optimistic that Hizbullah would not launch an attack on the Jewish state soon but did not rule out a future war.

“We don’t expect war to be initiated against us in the coming year, but there could be a deterioration as a result of specific events” as occurred in the Gaza Strip, Gantz said in interviews published in eight newspapers in the past days and over the weekend.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan warned that the nation was under threat because of political divisions and stressed that those committing inhumane acts in the name of religion were not faithful.

“The atrocities committed in the name of religion confirm that they (the perpetrators) don't have faith,” said Daryan in his Eid al-Adha sermon at Mohammed al-Amin mosque in downtown Beirut.

A meeting is expected to be held in the French capital Paris between Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Friday that the two leaders will hold talks in Paris although no prior appointment was arranged with Hariri.

Lebanese towns and villages are increasingly imposing curfews on Syrian refugees in the country and restricting their movements, an international human rights group said Friday.

Human Rights Watch said the curfews "contribute to a climate of discriminatory and retaliatory practices against them."

The army on Friday defused an explosive device weighing around 50 kilograms in the Bekaa border town of Arsal.

The bomb was discovered as an army force was conducting an inspection patrol in the Arsal area of Ras al-Sarj, according to an army statement.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour briefed on Friday the relatives of Arsal captives, who are holding a sit-in on the eastern Dahr al-Baydar road, on cabinet discussions regarding the abduction ordeal.

“They have the right to know everything and the government's stance on this case,” Abou Faour told reporters.

The Ministry of Energy announced on Friday that the first plane tasked with carrying out an aerial survey of Lebanon's offshore gas and oil arrived in the country.

The plane arrived as part of an agreement between the Ministry and the GEOS Solutions LLC on January 10.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and head of the syndicate of private schools teachers in Lebanon Nehme Mahfoud stressed on Friday that the academic year will not be similar to the previous one.

“We will cooperate with teachers to grant them their rights,” Bou Saab told reporters during a press conference after a meeting with a delegation from the Teachers Syndicate.