Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks

Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stands next to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R), and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, as he speaks during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 03 October 2024
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Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks

Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks
  • Israel is waging a major offensive against Hezbollah which has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon since Sept. 16 and uprooted one million

BEIRUT: Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon has prompted a renewed bid by some leading Lebanese politicians to fill a two-year-long presidential vacuum, an effort to revive the paralyzed state as it grapples with an escalating conflict.
Lebanon has not had a president or a fully empowered cabinet since October 2022 due to a power struggle in which Hezbollah has played a big part. Along with its allies, the heavily armed Shiite Muslim group has insisted the post, reserved for a Maronite Christian, go to their Christian ally Suleiman Frangieh.
With Hezbollah reeling from the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the presidency came into renewed focus this week when Shiite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, indicated flexibility on the matter, telling Prime Minister Najib Mikati he supported the election of a president who doesn’t represent “a challenge” to anyone.
A Hezbollah official told Reuters the group had delegated Berri to negotiate on its behalf over the presidency.
The presidency is decided by a vote in Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament. No single political alliance has enough seats to impose its choice, meaning an understanding among rival blocs is needed to secure the election of a candidate.
Following a meeting on Wednesday with Berri and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, Mikati — a Sunni Muslim — read a joint statement calling for the election of a “consensus president who will reassure everyone and dispel their concerns.”
The statement did not name any candidates.
Israel is waging a major offensive against Hezbollah which has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon since Sept. 16 and uprooted one million.
Wael Abu Faour, a senior lawmaker from Jumblatt’s faction, told Reuters the election of a consensus president would send “a message to the outside world that there is a strong government in the country ready to negotiate” over a ceasefire.
He said the meeting of the three leaders did not represent the formation of a new alliance and that factions including Christian parties were being engaged in discussions on the presidency.
The Lebanese Forces party, a major Christian faction and fierce Hezbollah opponent, on Monday called for the election of a president, saying this was the only way for “the state to assume its responsibilities on its own” — implicit criticism of Hezbollah over its possession of a massive arsenal of weapons.
Lebanon’s last president, Michel Aoun, was a former army commander and a political ally of Hezbollah.
A senior Western diplomat who did not wish to be named said Western and Arab nations had been urging Lebanon’s politicians to elect a president, adding that it was also in the interest of Hezbollah for the political conundrum to be resolved so the state could take more of the “weight” of the Israel crisis.
Abu Faour said the three leaders also discussed avoiding internal tensions in Lebanon as a result of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from Hezbollah-controlled areas into other parts of the country.


Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran indifferent to US election result

Updated 9 sec ago
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Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran indifferent to US election result

Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran indifferent to US election result
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the result of the US election did not matter to his country, state media reported on Thursday, amid heightened tensions with Washington over its support for Iran’s arch-enemy, Israel.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House following his election victory this week could mean tougher enforcement of US oil sanctions against Iran, which he initiated in 2018 after quitting a nuclear pact between Tehran and global powers.
The Biden administration has strongly supported Israel in its wars against the Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as Israeli actions against Iran itself.
Some analysts believe Trump will give Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a greater free hand in dealing with Iran.
“To us it does not matter at all who has won the American election, because our country and system relies on its inner strength and a great and honorable nation,” Pezeshkian said late on Wednesday, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.
It was his first comment on Trump’s election victory.
“We will not be close-minded in developing our relations with other countries (while) we have made it our priority to develop relations with Islamic and neighboring countries,” Pezeshkian said.
It was not immediately clear if Pezeshkian was also referring to the United States, with which Iran does not have diplomatic relations. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, has banned holding any direct talks with the United States.
An Iranian government spokesperson earlier played down the importance of the US election, while a Revolutionary Guards commander voiced readiness for confrontation.
The Iranian leaders’ main concern is the potential for Trump to empower Netanyahu to strike Iran’s nuclear sites, conduct assassinations and reimpose his “maximum pressure” policy through heightened sanctions on the country’s oil industry.
Some, however, suspect Trump will be cautious about the possibility of war.
In 2018, the then-Trump administration exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact’s nuclear limits.
International sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program forced Tehran to reach the 2015 pact under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting the punitive measures.
Trump’s tough stance could force Ayatollah Khamenei to approve talks “whether direct or indirect” with the United States, two Iranian officials have told Reuters.
In September, Pezeshkian said Tehran was ready to end its nuclear standoff with the West, which accuses it of seeking capacity to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Diplomatic incident in French-owned Jerusalem compound

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot(R) walks away after cancelling his visit to the Eleona Domain.
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot(R) walks away after cancelling his visit to the Eleona Domain.
Updated 19 min 45 sec ago
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Diplomatic incident in French-owned Jerusalem compound

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot(R) walks away after cancelling his visit to the Eleona Domain.
  • “I will not enter the Eleona Domain today, because Israeli security forces entered with weapons, without prior French authorization, without agreeing to leave today,” Barrot said

JERUSALEM: Israeli police entered the French-owned Eleona church compound in Jerusalem, on Thursday, briefly detaining two gendarmes and prompting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to abandon a scheduled visit, an AFP journalist reported.
“I will not enter the Eleona Domain today, because Israeli security forces entered with weapons, without prior French authorization, without agreeing to leave today,” Barrot said at the scene, calling the standoff “unacceptable.”
France claims the sanctuary on the Mount of Olives as its territory under international treaties. It has been the focus of diplomatic incidents in the past.


Lebanon MPs demand UN protection of heritage sites from Israel attacks

Picture shows the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
Picture shows the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
Updated 42 min 27 sec ago
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Lebanon MPs demand UN protection of heritage sites from Israel attacks

Picture shows the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
  • Appeal to head of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, followed Israeli strikes near ancient ruins in the southern city of Tyre and the eastern city of Baalbek in recent weeks

BEIRUT: More than 100 Lebanese lawmakers appealed to the United Nations on Thursday to ensure the preservation of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by Israel during its war with Hezbollah.
The appeal to the head of the UN cultural agency, UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, followed Israeli strikes near ancient ruins in the southern city of Tyre and the eastern city of Baalbek in recent weeks.
“During the devastating war on Lebanon, Israel has caused grave human rights violations and atrocities,” the lawmakers said more than a month into the Israel-Hezbollah war.
“As parliamentarians, we bring to your attention an urgent need: the protection of Lebanon’s historic sites in Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon and other invaluable landmarks currently at risk due to the escalation of the atrocities,” it added.
“These cherished landmarks, treasured not only by our nation but by the world, face imminent risk as the war escalates.”
Lebanon is home to six UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Roman ruins in Baalbek and Tyre, where Hezbollah holds sway.
In Baalbek, Israeli strikes on Wednesday destroyed a heritage house and damaged a historic hotel near the city’s Roman temples, according to local authorities.
The strike hit just a few meters (yards) from the ruins, the closest since the start of the war, officials said.
“We are waiting for engineers from UNESCO and the Directorate General of Antiquities” to determine if there was any damage, Baalbek mayor Mustafa Al-Shall told AFP.
In Tyre, Israeli strikes have hit close to the city’s Roman ruins.
UNESCO said last month it was “closely following the impact of the ongoing conflict on the World Heritage site of Tyre,” using remote sensing tools and satellite imagery.
The Lebanese MPs called on Azoulay to “urgently prioritize the protection of these historic sites by mobilizing UNESCO’s authority, securing international attention, and advocating for protective measures.”
“This appeal goes beyond physical preservation; it is about safeguarding the traditions, stories and values these sites represent — legacies that connect our past to our future.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September, when Israel broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.
Since September 23, more than 2,600 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Health Minister Firass Abiad.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Monday for a ceasefire “to protect our country’s cultural heritage, including the ancient archaeological sites of Baalbek and Tyre.”
He called on the UN Security Council to “take swift and decisive action to protect these historical treasures.”


Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’

Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’
Updated 07 November 2024
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Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’

Israel army tells north Gaza residents to leave ‘combat zone’
  • “For your safety, move south immediately,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X
  • The latest call follows a series of evacuation orders for large swathes of the Gaza Strip’s north

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military called for the evacuation of several areas in northern Gaza on Thursday, again warning that Palestinian militants were launching rockets from there.
“We inform you that the designated area is considered a dangerous combat zone. For your safety, move south immediately,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X along with a map of the area in Gaza City’s northwest.
The latest call follows a series of evacuation orders for large swathes of the Gaza Strip’s north, where Israeli forces have intensified their operations since early October.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told reporters that “we are isolating Gazan civilians away from Hamas terrorists so we can get to the terrorists” still in that area.
“Right now, there are residents of the northern part of Gaza who have been evacuated to safer places,” he added.


Greek tanker crippled by Houthi militants starts oil transfer

he Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah. (Aspides)
he Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah. (Aspides)
Updated 07 November 2024
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Greek tanker crippled by Houthi militants starts oil transfer

he Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah. (Aspides)

ATHENS: A Greek oil tanker crippled by Yemen’s Houthi militants and towed to avert an environmental disaster began transferring its cargo of over a million barrels on Thursday, the state-run ANA news agency said.
The Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeidah, a Houthi-held port city.
The following day its 25-strong crew was rescued. The rebels claimed to have detonated charges on the ship’s deck, sparking new fires.
ANA said the Sounion had begun transferring its cargo of 150,000 tons of crude to another tanker, Delta Blue, at a “safe anchorage” in the port of Suez.
“The vessel is at Suez, and as it’s at a safe anchorage, we are no longer monitoring it,” a source at Greece’s merchant marine ministry told AFP.
Citing ministry sources, ANA said the operation began on Thursday and will last between three and four weeks.
In September, EU maritime safety body Aspides said the Sounion was not under its protection at the time of the attack.
The ship’s original course “was a bit of a mystery,” the ministry source told AFP. “We were told it was heading from Iraq to Singapore. If that were the case, how did it end up in the Red Sea?“
The operation to tow the vessel to safety in September required a tugboat escorted by three frigates, helicopters and a special forces team, ANA said.
Had the vessel broken up or exploded, it could have caused an oil spill four times larger than that caused by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 off Alaska, experts had warned.
The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by Houthis.
The Houthis have waged a campaign against international shipping to show solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
They have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the vital commercial route, saying they are targeting vessels linked to Israel, the US and Britain.
The United States, with the support of allies led by Britain, has carried out repeated air strikes on rebel bases in Yemen.