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Charbel Wehbi asked to be relieved of his duties as caretaker foreign minister amid the fallout from comments he made Monday accusing Gulf countries of fueling the rise of the Islamic State. President Michel Aoun promptly appointed outgoing Defense Minister Zeina Akar in Wehbi’s stead. Akar will now serve as acting caretaker foreign minister in addition to her roles as caretaker defense minister and caretaker deputy prime minister. The inglorious end to Wehbi’s time in office capped off a term comprising a mere seven days as active foreign minister, before Hassan Diab’s cabinet resigned in the wake of the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon said the kingdom has no intention of expelling Lebanese residents. Waleed Boukhari issued his reassurance yesterday amid rumors that the fallout from the diplomatic scandal ignited by Wehbi could affect Lebanese citizens’ right to remain in the Gulf state. In an effort to shore up relations following Wehbi’s remarks about Gulf countries’ role in the spread of the Islamic State and other comments that were deemed offensive, political party representatives, other government officials and religious figures visited Boukhari in a Bedouin-style tent erected by the Saudi Embassy. The setting was of particular significance given a comment Wehbi directed at a Saudi co-guest during a controversial appearance on the TV channel Alhurra. Wehbi told the guest he would not be “insulted by a Bedouin.”

Four rockets were launched toward Israel from Seddiqine Village in the Sur District. Israel responded with artillery fire. No damages or casualties were reported by either side, although the rockets set off air-raid sirens in the city of Haifa in northern Israel. An Israeli military spokesperson tweeted that one of the rockets was intercepted by the country’s air defense system, while the others landed in empty spaces and the sea. Just over an hour after the rocket launches were first reported, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon tweeted that artillery fire across the border had ceased. The incident was the third of its kind in a week. Last Thursday, the Israeli military said three rockets launched from Lebanon had landed in the sea, and on Monday it said six shells fired from Lebanon toward the Jewish state fell short of the border. Israel returned fire in the direction of the source of the latter shells.

Syrians in Lebanon will go to the polls today to vote in their country’s presidential election amid allegations that voters are being pressured by local political parties. According to a statement issued by the Access Center for Human Rights yesterday, pro-regime political parties in Lebanon have been pressuring Syrians to vote for the incumbent president by exploiting their fears of arrest or deportation as well as their difficult living conditions. The statement says that superintendents of settlements and civil society activists in Beirut, Baalbeck, Akkar and the south have received threats from Lebanese political parties in an effort to coerce them to persuade refugees living in the settlements to register on voters’ lists. ACHR also reports that it has documented three cases in which political parties went so far as to abduct and beat refugees who refused to cooperate. Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea suggested yesterday on Twitter that Syrians voting for Bashar al-Assad should leave Lebanon and return to areas controlled by the regime. While voting in the presidential poll takes place today for Syrians in Lebanon, citizens inside Syria’s borders will not cast their ballots until May 26.