Aoun seeks French support for Israeli troop withdrawal

Special Aoun seeks French support for Israeli troop withdrawal
Ambassador Herve Magro presents his credentials to President Joseph Aoun, Feb. 05, 2025. (X/@Herve_Magro)
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Updated 05 February 2025
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Aoun seeks French support for Israeli troop withdrawal

Aoun seeks French support for Israeli troop withdrawal
  • Joseph Aoun called for pressure to be applied to halt daily violations and to work toward the release of Lebanese prisoners within the specified timeframe
  • Israeli forces are positioned behind earthen barriers and barbed wire, with a warning sign reading Do Not Approach, at the entrances of Yaroun and Maroun Al-Ras

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has urged France to back demands for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese border areas occupied during the recent conflict.

In a meeting with the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Herve Magro, on Wednesday, Aoun also called for “pressure to be applied to halt daily violations and to work toward the release of Lebanese prisoners within the specified timeframe.”

Israeli forces are still entrenched behind an earthen barrier created a week ago west of the town of Mays Al-Jabal, while Lebanese troops are deployed dozens of meters away.

Several houses in the town of Rab El Thalathine in the Marjeyoun district were destroyed by Israeli troops a day after homes in the town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district were also razed.

Israeli forces are positioned behind earthen barriers and barbed wire, with a warning sign reading “Do not approach,” at the entrances of Yaroun and Maroun Al-Ras.

They are supported by snipers hidden among the trees, while elements of the Lebanese army are deployed just meters away.

Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from the border area on Feb, 18, following a 23-day extension of the withdrawal deadline with the approval of the US.

Wajih Zahwi, 7, from Majdal Selem, on Wednesday died from head injuries sustained in an Israeli military drone strike on Jan. 29 while civilians were returning to their villages. The attack was in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The border municipality of Ramiyah said that it was “informed by the military intelligence that two army posts will be established within the town. Additionally, efforts will be made to open several secondary roads, and on Friday, engineering teams from the army will conduct surveys and inspections for remnants of the Israeli aggression in the area.”

Meanwhile, a foreign photojournalist working in the Middle East claimed that she was threatened by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.

Courtney Bonneau posted on Instagram that at around 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, while she was in a building in the town of Taybeh in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army has redeployed, the Israeli army called UNIFIL to inform her and another photographer that if they did not vacate the premises, they would be shot.

As part of military and security agencies’ efforts to combat illegal weapons, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces said that it had seized a four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by a 43-year-old Lebanese man, whose name was not disclosed.

Weapons and ammunition were found after the vehicle was stopped at the Dahr Al-Baydar checkpoint on the Bekaa-Beirut road. The man admitted bringing the weapons from Syria, and another Lebanese man accompanying him was also arrested.

Military police on Tuesday also intercepted a weapons shipment in Wardaniyeh that was being moved from a Hezbollah warehouse to an undisclosed location.

In a related development, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has designated Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem as his “representative for Hussainiyah affairs and religious administration in Lebanon.”

Qassem is believed to have remained in Iran since assuming his new role.

His appointment was announced by Hezbollah on Oct. 29, following the death of Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Nasrallah had served as Khamenei’s representative in Lebanon before his death.


Police use force to break up protests at university in Turkiye’s capital

Police use force to break up protests at university in Turkiye’s capital
Updated 3 min 25 sec ago
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Police use force to break up protests at university in Turkiye’s capital

Police use force to break up protests at university in Turkiye’s capital
  • At least 1,400 people were detained first six days of the protests, the interior minister said Tuesday
  • A group of students gathered to read a statement near the university gates, pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV and local media reported
ISTANBUL: Police used pepper spray, plastic pellets and water cannon against protesters in Turkiye’s capital early Thursday, potentially reigniting tensions after two days of relative calm in the country’s biggest anti-government protests in over a decade.
The demonstrations began last week following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Imamoglu, jailed on corruption charges many see as politically motivated, is also accused of supporting terrorism. The government insists the judiciary is independent, but critics say the evidence is based on secret witnesses and lacks credibility.
Early Thursday, student demonstrators tried to march and gathered to read a statement near the gates at Middle East Technical University, pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV and local media reported. They were met by security forces who deployed pepper spray, water cannon and plastic pellets. A standoff ensued where the students hid behind a barricade of dumpsters until the police charged to detain them.
Melih Meric, a legislator with the Republican People’s Party or CHP, was seen soaked with water and suffering from pepper spray exposure. “My student friends only wanted to make a press statement, but the police strictly did not allow it, this is the result,” Meric said in social media videos.
Officials have not said how many people were detained.
Ozgur Ozel, the leader of party to which Imamoglu belongs, had promised that lawmakers would stand alongside protesters in the hope of lowering tensions. He also warned Tuesday that if the police provoked demonstrators he would “make a call for 500,000 people to (come to) the place that will disturb” the authorities the most.
At least 1,400 people were detained first six days of the protests, the interior minister said Tuesday.
Demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands have swept across major cities, including opposition-organized rallies outside Istanbul City Hall. Other major protests have been held in Istanbul’s districts of Kadikoy and Sisli districts in recent days.
Erdogan has accused the opposition of “sinking the economy” by calling for a boycott of companies it says support the governmen. The president said those responsible for hurting financial stability would be held “accountable.”
Meanwhile, Imamoglu, speaking from prison via social media Wednesday, denounced police violence against protesters, “I cannot call them police because my honorable police would not commit this cruelty to the young children of the nation,” he said.
Imamoglu has been confirmed as the main opposition party’s candidate for presidential elections due in 2028 but which could come earlier. He has performed well in recent polls against Erdogan, for whom his election as mayor of Turkiye’s largest city in 2019 was a major blow.

Hamas spokesperson Qanoua killed in Israeli airstrike, Al-Aqsa TV reports

Hamas spokesperson Qanoua killed in Israeli airstrike, Al-Aqsa TV reports
Updated 27 March 2025
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Hamas spokesperson Qanoua killed in Israeli airstrike, Al-Aqsa TV reports

Hamas spokesperson Qanoua killed in Israeli airstrike, Al-Aqsa TV reports
  • Al-Qanoua was killed when his tent was targeted in Jabalia in northern Gaza
  • Earlier this week, Israel killed senior leaders Ismail Barhoum and Salah Al-Bardaweel

CAIRO: Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, Hamas-affiliated media said early on Thursday, the latest group figure to be killed since Israel resumed its operations in the enclave.
Al-Qanoua was killed when his tent was targeted in Jabalia, the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television said. The same strike wounded several people, while separate attacks killed at least six in Gaza City and one in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, medical sources said.
Earlier this week, Israel killed Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’ political office, and Salah Al-Bardaweel, another senior leader.
Both Bardaweel and Barhoum were members of the 20-member Hamas decision-making body, the political office, 11 of whom have been killed since the start of the war in late 2023, according to Hamas sources.
Last week, Israel ended a two-month-old ceasefire by resuming bombing and ground operations, increasing pressure on Hamas to free the remaining hostages in its captivity.
At least 830 people, over half of them children and women, have been killed since Israel resumed major military strikes in Gaza on March 18, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Israel and Hamas accused each other of breaching the truce. It had broadly held since January and offered respite from war for the 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble.
Hamas, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so hostages Israel says the group seized in its October 7, 2023 attack, accused Israel of jeopardizing efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension. He repeated threats on Wednesday to seize territory in Gaza if Hamas failed to release the remaining hostages it still holds.


Trump: Houthi attacks will continue for long time

Trump: Houthi attacks will continue for long time
Updated 27 March 2025
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Trump: Houthi attacks will continue for long time

Trump: Houthi attacks will continue for long time

US airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen will continue for a long time, President Donald Trump said Wednesday.

His comments came shortly after Houthi media said new US strikes had hit the capital Sanaa, AFP reported. Earlier reports said there had been 19 US raids elsewhere in Yemen.

The US said it was launching a military offensive against the Houthis on March 15, to stop the group attacking shipping in the Red Sea - a key global trade route.

The militant Iran-backed group started the attacks after the start of the Gaza war, claimig they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians.


Iraq gives British Petroleum final green light to redevelop Kirkuk oilfields

Iraq gives British Petroleum final green light to redevelop Kirkuk oilfields
Updated 27 March 2025
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Iraq gives British Petroleum final green light to redevelop Kirkuk oilfields

Iraq gives British Petroleum final green light to redevelop Kirkuk oilfields
  • First phase of project will cover their Baba and Avanah domes and three adjacent fields
  • British Petroleum helped to discover the giant Kirkuk oilfields in the 1920s

 

LONDON: BP has received final government approval for the redevelopment of Iraq’s giant Kirkuk oil fields, with an initial plan to produce 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the company said on Wednesday.
The project is a breakthrough for Iraq, where output has been constrained by years of war, corruption and sectarian tensions, and a cornerstone of BP’s drive to refocus on its oil and gas business and away from renewables.
Tuesday’s signing of a final agreement on the project between BP CEO Murray Auchincloss and Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani follows an initial deal signed last month and a memorandum of understanding last year.
BP said its remuneration will be linked to incremental production volumes, price and costs, and that the company will be able to book a share of output and reserves “proportionate to the fees it earns for helping to increase production.”
The first phase of the redevelopment of the Kirkuk fields, which BP first helped to discover in the 1920s, will cover their Baba and Avanah domes and three adjacent fields Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz, BP said.
A new operator will be set up, including staff from Iraq’s North Oil Company (NOC) and North Gas Company (NGC) as well as people seconded from BP.


US urges South Sudan president to release VP Machar, who is reportedly under house arrest

US urges South Sudan president to release VP Machar, who is reportedly under house arrest
Updated 9 sec ago
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US urges South Sudan president to release VP Machar, who is reportedly under house arrest

US urges South Sudan president to release VP Machar, who is reportedly under house arrest
  • Earlier on Wednesday, the United Nations reported clashes over the past 24 hours between forces loyal to the two men outside the capital Juba

The United States on Thursday called on South Sudan President Salva Kiir to release his rival First Vice President Riek Machar who was reportedly under house arrest, saying it was time the country’s leaders demonstrated their commitment to peace.

Machar’s SPLM-IO party said on Wednesday that the defense minister and chief of national security “forcefully entered” Machar’s residence and delivered an arrest warrant.

Machar was being held at his house with his wife and two bodyguards, accused of being implicated in fighting between the military and White Army in Nasir, Upper Nile State this month, Reath Muoch Tang, a senior SPLM-IO official said in a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday.

“We are concerned by reports South Sudan’s First Vice President Machar is under house arrest,” Washington’s Bureau of African Affairs wrote on X.

“We urge President Kiir to reverse this action & prevent further escalation of the situation.”

Under a peace deal which ended a 2013-2018 civil war between forces loyal to Machar on one side and Kiir on the other, South Sudan has five vice presidents. Kiir’s longtime rival and opposition leader Machar is currently serving as first vice president.

The United Nations has warned that recent clashes in Nasir between the army and the White Army, a militia with historical ties to Machar, and a rise in hate-speech could reignite along ethnic lines the civil war which ended in 2018.

Machar’s SPLM-IO party denies ongoing links with the White Army.

“It is time for South Sudan’s leaders to demonstrate sincerity of stated commitments to peace,” Washington’s Bureau of African Affairs wrote on X.

South Sudan’s army and government spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Call for restraint

Political analysts say that the peace deal, under which Kiir and Machar have been serving in a fragile coalition government, is on the brink of collapse.

The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called for restraint, saying that the country’s leaders stood on the brink of relapsing into widespread conflict.

“This will not only devastate South Sudan but also affect the entire region,” UNMISS said in a statement.

Earlier this month Kiir’s government detained several officials from Machar’s party, including the petroleum minister and the deputy head of the army, in response to the clashes with the White Army in Upper Nile State.

On Wednesday the UN reported fighting between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar close to the capital Juba.

The 2013-2018 civil war, which was fought largely along ethnic lines, resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths in the world’s youngest nation.