Lebanon has right to defend its land amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officers

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during an interview with Reuters at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, October 14, 2021. (REUTERS)
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during an interview with Reuters at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, October 14, 2021. (REUTERS)
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Updated 02 August 2024
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Lebanon has right to defend its land amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officers

Lebanon has right to defend its land amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officers
  • Hezbollah artillery breaks silence, targets Israeli military sites
  • Israeli airstrike kills mother and 3 children

BEIRUT: Lebanon is determined to defend its land and sovereignty, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday.

“We will not hesitate to do so, no matter the sacrifices,” he said.

Mikati described the regional developments as “worrisome,” signaling increased danger levels.

He said that “nothing indicates that Israeli arrogance will stop.”

Mikati met with senior officers in the Lebanese army command and cautioned that “the regional developments are concerning.”

He stressed that the army “remains the firm guarantee for the unity of Lebanon, its territory, people, and establishments, making it a national obligation for everyone to unite around the army institution.”

Mikati said that in response to the ongoing and severe Israeli escalation, “we affirm our right to defend our land, sovereignty, and dignity using all available means.”

He stated that he had informed “friendly and brotherly countries that we are advocates of peace, not war.

“We seek permanent stability through Israel’s commitment to implementing UN Resolution 1701 in all its provisions. No Israeli aggression will deter us from that.”

Mikati emphasized the importance of deploying the army in cooperation with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon to prevent violations of “our internationally recognized borders. This is essential for ensuring stability and security for the people in the south.”

He added: “Our right to utilize the resources in our waters is absolute and not open to negotiation.”

Mikati also met with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, France, the UK, China, and Russia) and the representatives of the non-permanent member states present in Lebanon (Algeria, Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea).

The meeting came against the backdrop of escalating confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah, which reached their peak on Tuesday with the assassination of senior Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in the heart of the southern suburb of Beirut.

Mikati’s media office stated that the assembled ambassadors affirmed Lebanon’s “commitment to implementing UN resolutions, especially Resolution 1701, as a top priority in the region.”

Lebanon has also filed a complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel for its aggression against the southern suburb of Beirut.

It said Israel’s dangerous escalation affected a densely populated residential area in violation of international law and the UN Charter.

In the southern town of Shamaa, a funeral procession was held for a Syrian mother and her three children — Fatima Al-Raja Al-Hajj and her sons Suleiman, Mohammed, and Ahmed Al-Hajj — who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home on Thursday night.

The death toll of Syrian civilians who have been killed during the confrontations in the south since Oct. 8 has risen to 18.

The airstrike coincided with Hezbollah holding the funeral procession for Shukr in the southern suburb of Beirut.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Thursday evening during Shukr’s funeral to respond to his assassination.

He said that Israel “should expect the revenge of the honorable” and that “we have entered a new phase on all support fronts (for Hamas in the Gaza Strip).”

He said Israel “has crossed red lines and has no idea of the kind of aggression it has committed.”

The Israeli army on Friday launched airstrikes and targeted border towns with artillery fire, including Rab El-Thalathine, Dhayra, and Blida, as well as the outskirts of Naqoura and Tayr Harfa.

Hezbollah announced a series of targets that were within the rules of engagement.

It targeted the deployment of Israeli soldiers in the Dhayra site, the Al-Sammaqa site in the occupied Lebanese Kfarchouba Hills and the Bayad Blida site with artillery shells.

The party launched dozens of Katyusha rockets on the Matzuva settlement in the wake of the Israeli attack on Shamaa.

 


UN agencies urge more funds for 'increasing' Lebanon needs

UN agencies urge more funds for 'increasing' Lebanon needs
Updated 8 sec ago
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UN agencies urge more funds for 'increasing' Lebanon needs

UN agencies urge more funds for 'increasing' Lebanon needs
BEIRUT: Two United Nations agencies on Tuesday called for more funding to address "increasing" needs in Lebanon, where the war between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
"We are preparing for the reality that the needs are increasing," said UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban and World Food Programme deputy executive director Carl Skau in a joint statement, adding: "We need additional funding, without conditionalities".

One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital

One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital
Updated 11 min 48 sec ago
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One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital

One killed in shooting in south Israel: hospital
  • Two injured people from the shooting incident were taken to the hospital

JERUSALEM: One person was killed and another wounded in a shooting attack near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on Tuesday, a hospital said.
“A short time ago, two injured people from the shooting incident on Route 4 were taken to the hospital. One patient died on his way to the hospital,” the Assuta hospital said in a statement.
Police said officers were at the scene of the shooting near the Yavne South interchange, which is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation, and the motive has not yet been established,” police said in a statement.
The shooting comes just days after one person was killed and five wounded during a stabbing rampage in four different locations in the central town of Hadera on Wednesday before the assailant was “neutralized.”
Palestinian militant group Hamas later praised the attack, saying it was a “heroic stabbing operation” and calling “for more painful strikes against the occupation.”
And earlier this month, seven people were killed in a shooting and stabbing claimed by Hamas in Tel Aviv.
Palestinian militants have carried out several attacks on Israelis since October 7 last year, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking war in Gaza.


UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia

UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia
Updated 11 min 21 sec ago
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UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia

UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia
  • Several candidates were arrested or given heavy prison sentences

GENEVA: The United Nations said Tuesday it was troubled by the presidential election campaign in Tunisia, which had been “marred” by a crackdown on the opposition.
Three years after making a sweeping power grab, Kais Saied was re-elected president of Tunisia with 90.69 percent of the votes cast, the ISIE electoral authority announced Monday.
A low turnout reflected widespread discontent in the cradle of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.
Saied had been widely expected to win after the ISIE barred 14 candidates from standing, with other figures jailed.
“Such cases are troubling. Their trials indicate a lack of respect for due process and fair trial guarantees,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said.
His statement recalled that out of 17 prospective candidates only three were accepted, while a number of presidential hopefuls were arrested and served lengthy prison sentences on various charges.
Meanwhile more than 100 prospective candidates, their campaign members and other political figures were arrested on a variety of charges ranging from falsification of electoral paperwork to issues related to national security.
Turk called on the Tunisian authorities to protect the country’s democratic processes and uphold fundamental freedoms.
“Since 2011, Tunisia had been a pioneer in efforts to ensure accountability and redress for past abuses, including through the work of the Truth and Dignity Commission,” Turk said.
“Unfortunately, a number of these gains have been lost, and the recent arrest of the former head of the commission is an example.”
Rights groups fear Saied’s re-election will entrench his grip on the only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring protests.
Turk noted the broader context of increasing pressure on civil society over the past year, targeting numerous journalists, human rights defenders and political opponents, as well as judges and lawyers.
“I strongly urge Tunisia to recommit to transitional justice in the interests of victims, and to embark on much needed rule of law reforms, in line with international human rights law, including with regard to freedoms of expression, assembly and association,” said Turk.
“I also call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained.”
Turk said he was also concerned about the elections authority refusing to apply a ruling by the Administrative Court ordering the readmission of three excluded candidates, with the parliament passing a law removing electoral dispute from the court’s jurisdiction just days before the election.
“The rejection of a legally binding court decision is at odds with basic respect for the rule of law,” said Turk.


Israel kills at least 40 in Gaza, tanks deepen raid in the north

Israel kills at least 40 in Gaza, tanks deepen raid in the north
Updated 15 October 2024
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Israel kills at least 40 in Gaza, tanks deepen raid in the north

Israel kills at least 40 in Gaza, tanks deepen raid in the north
  • Israeli forces tighten siege around Jabalia
  • UN says 400,000 Palestinians are trapped in the north

GAZA: Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.
Palestinian health officials said at least 11 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.
Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, and the local civil emergency service said they recovered two bodies from the site, while the search continued for 12 other people who were believed to have been in the houses at the time of the strike.
Five others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

Jabalia has been the focus of an Israeli offensive for more than 10 days, with troops returning to areas of the north that came under heavy bombardment in the early months of the year-long war.
The operation has raised concerns among Palestinians and UN agencies that Israel wants to clear residents from the north of the crowded enclave, a charge it has denied.

Meanwhile the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 42,344 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 55 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 99,013 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday the Israeli military appeared to be “cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip.”
“Amid intense ongoing hostilities and evacuation orders in northern Gaza families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion. People must be able to flee safely, without facing further danger,” Adrian Zimmerman, ICRC Gaza head of sub-delegation, said in a statement.
“Many, including the sick and disabled, cannot leave, and they remain protected under international humanitarian law – all possible precautions must be taken to ensure they remain unharmed. Every person displaced has the right to return home in safety,” he added.
The Israeli military has now encircled the Jabalia camp and sent tanks into nearby Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun towns, with the declared aim of stamping out Hamas fighters who are trying to regroup there.
The Israeli military has told residents to leave their homes and head to safety in southern Gaza. Palestinian and UN officials say there was no place safe in Gaza.
Israeli officials said evacuation orders were aimed at separating Hamas fighters from civilians and denied that there was any systematic plan to clear civilians out of Jabalia or other northern areas.
Hamas’ armed wing said fighters were engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces in and around Jabalia.
Zimmerman also urged for health facilities in the north to be protected, saying hospitals there were struggling to provide medical services.
Gaza’s health ministry said the army ordered the three hospitals operating there to evacuate but medical staffers said they were determined to continue their services even though they are overwhelmed by the growing number of casualties.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the level of civilian casualties in northern Gaza.
The northern part of Gaza is home to well over half the territory’s 2.3 million people and hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes amidst heavy bombing in the first phase of Israel’s assault on the territory.
Around 400,000 people remained, according to United Nations estimates.
Israel launched the offensive against Hamas after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage to Gaza, by Israeli tallies. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive so far, according to Gaza’s health authorities.


King Abdullah reaffirms Jordan’s support for Lebanon in meeting with PM Mikati

King Abdullah reaffirms Jordan’s support for Lebanon in meeting with PM Mikati
Updated 15 October 2024
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King Abdullah reaffirms Jordan’s support for Lebanon in meeting with PM Mikati

King Abdullah reaffirms Jordan’s support for Lebanon in meeting with PM Mikati
  • At the meeting at Al-Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah affirmed Jordan’s support for its neighbor’s sovereignty, security and stability

DUBAI: Jordan’s King Abdullah held talks with Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday in Amman on the situation in the latter’s country and Israel’s aggression in the south.

At the meeting at Al-Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah affirmed Jordan’s support for its neighbor’s sovereignty, security and stability, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Monday.

He also expressed Jordan’s readiness to assist Lebanon in alleviating the suffering caused by the ongoing conflict.

“Jordan is working closely with Arab allies and key international players to stop the Israeli war on Lebanon,” King Abdullah said, warning that Tel Aviv’s continued aggression could escalate into a costly regional war.

Mikati thanked King Abdullah for the support, particularly his efforts to halt Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, and for the aid provided for those displaced by the conflict.

The meeting was attended by Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and the Director of the King’s Office Alaa Batayneh.