Information Minister Ramzi Jreij announced that the cabinet decided to raise the alert levels on terrorist threats, pointing out that the council adjourned discussing the financial situation.
The ministers stood for a moment of silence to mourn the victims of the attacks at the beginning of the Cabinet session, which was held at the Grand Serail under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Tammam Salam to discuss the security situation in Lebanon.
Salam started the session with a condemnation of the assaults, explaining that the terrorist attacks in al-Qaa came with no surprise, as security forces were expecting terrorist threats.
"The security situation in Lebanon calls for a general alert that isn't sectarian," he added, emphasizing the need to act in a unified manner.
Prior to the session, Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi stressed that “it’s high time to discuss the return of the refugees to their homeland and control their random spread throughout the country."
Minister of State for Administrative Development Nabil de Freij said that the security situation is a "priority."
Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan called for increasing the security measures and enhancing the national unity.
For his part, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab expressed fear that terrorists were given instructions by third parties to enter the Lebanese territories.
"The government cannot meet without tackling the security situation," Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb said as he entered the meeting.
In turn, Minister for the Displaced Alice Shabtini said that Lebanon should demand the presence of international forces along its border.
State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Fneish emphasized that “they are targeting Lebanon’s various...areas. What happened is a barbaric act,” holding “the states that support terrorists” responsible for the attacks.
Eight suicide bombers attacked the village of al-Qaa on Lebanon's border with Syria on Monday, killing five people and wounding dozens more, in the latest violent spillover of the five-year-old Syrian war into Lebanon.
A first wave of attacks involved four suicide bombers who struck after 4 am in the village of al-Qaa on Lebanon's border with Syria, killing five people, all civilians.
The first bomber blew himself up after being confronted by a resident, with the other three detonating their bombs one after the other as people arrived at the scene. The Lebanese army said four soldiers were among the wounded.
A second series of attacks, involving at least four bombers, took place in the evening as residents were preparing the funerals of those killed earlier. Two of the four bombers blew themselves up outside the church of Mar Elias, security sources said. Nobody was killed.
The other suicide bombers attempted to target soldiers, but detonated their belts without causing any casualties other than themselves.
Lebanese Red Cross chief George Kettani said that these bombings wounded 13 people, who were admitted to the hospitals of Hermel.
One person was critically injured and was transported to a hospital in Beirut.
Al-Qaa mayor Bashir Matar urged residents to stay at home and shoot anyone suspicious. The governor of Baalbek-Hermel Bashir Khodr meanwhile imposed a curfew on Syrian refugees in the area.
Security forces called on residents in the town to remain at home and avoid crowding around attack sites.
The army brought in additional reinforcements to the town, and army units began implementing search and raid operations in the town and its surroundings in search of suspects.