France’s Macron in Beirut to meet Lebanon’s new leaders

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Updated 17 January 2025
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France’s Macron in Beirut to meet Lebanon’s new leaders

  • French president’s plane landed at the Lebanese capital’s airport at around 6:45 a.m.

BEIRUT: France’s President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beirut on Friday for a visit that will see him meet his counterpart and offer support as Lebanon’s leaders seek to open a new chapter in their country’s turbulent history.

After more than two years of a political vacuum at the top, Joseph Aoun was elected president on January 9 and chose Nawaf Salam as prime minister-designate.

They now face the daunting task of leading Lebanon after a devastating Israel-Hezbollah war and years of economic crisis.

Macron is also expected to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the Lebanese capital as a January 26 deadline to fully implement an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal approaches.

Macron’s visit aims to “help” Aoun and Salam “to consolidate Lebanon’s sovereignty, ensure its prosperity and maintain its unity,” the French presidency said prior to his arrival.

Analysts say Hezbollah’s weakening in the war with Israel last year allowed Lebanon’s deeply divided political class to elect Aoun and to back his naming of Salam as premier.

France has special ties with Lebanon, which it administered for two decades after World War I, and the two countries have maintained close relations even since Lebanon’s independence in 1943.

Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have given “their full support” to the formation of a “strong government” in Lebanon, the French presidency said on Thursday after a call between the two leaders.

The new government must “bring together Lebanon’s diverse people, ensure the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is respected and carry out the reforms necessary for the prosperity, stability and sovereignty of the country,” the presidency said.

Macron is also set to meet Lebanon’s powerful speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally.

He will also meet UNIFIL chief Aroldo Lazaro and the heads of a committee comprising Israeli, Lebanese, French and US delegates, alongside a UNIFIL representative, tasked with monitoring ceasefire violations.

Under the November 27 ceasefire accord, the Lebanese army has 60 days to deploy alongside UN peacekeepers in the south of Lebanon as the Israeli army withdraws.

At the same time, Hezbollah is required to pull its forces north of the Litani river, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure it has in south Lebanon.

After an aid conference in Paris in October, France’s presidency promised “symbolic gestures” to mobilize the international community to come to Lebanon’s assistance.


Flights again halted to Israel after Houthi missile lands near airport

Updated 3 sec ago
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Flights again halted to Israel after Houthi missile lands near airport

JERUSALEM: European and US carriers canceled flights for the next several days after a missile fired by the Houthis on Sunday landed near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, the country’s main international travel gateway.
Many foreign airlines subsequently suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv after the missile hit, sending a plume of smoke into the air and causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
Following a ceasefire deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas in January, foreign carriers had begun to resume flights to Israel after halting them for much of the last year and a half since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
That left flag carrier El Al Airlines — along with smaller rivals Arkia and Israir — with a near monopoly. El Al’s shares rose 7 percent, while Israir gained 4.1 percent in a flat broader Tel Aviv market on Sunday.
Delta Air Lines said it canceled Sunday’s flight from JFK in New York to Tel Aviv and the return flight from Tel Aviv on Monday. United canceled its twice daily flights between Tel Aviv and Newark while it monitors the situation.
Earlier, flights from Tel Aviv on Delta and United on Sunday morning departed about 90 minutes late.
Lufthansa Group, which includes Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels and Austrian, said it had halted flights to and from Tel Aviv through Tuesday due to the current situation.
ITA said it had canceled flights from Italy to Israel through Wednesday, while Air France canceled flights on Sunday, saying customers were transferred to flights on Monday. TUS flights to and from Cyprus were canceled through Monday, while Air India flights from New Delhi were halted on Sunday.
Ryanair suspended flights on Sunday but flights are still scheduled for Monday, according to the Israel Airports Authority. Wizz also halted flights.
“I’m afraid it’s going to be very difficult to go back to France because all European carriers, from what I see on the information (board), have canceled. Lufthansa have canceled, Swiss have canceled, Brussels (Airlines), so no connection is possible,” said Michael Sceemes, 56, whose Air France flight was canceled.
Aegean, flydubai and Ethiopian did not cancel flights.
El Al said it would reintroduce rescue flights to Israel from Larnaca and Athens for passengers stranded by foreign carriers at a cost of $99 and $149, respectively.
Udi Bar Oz, head of Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was up and running less than 30 minutes after the missile hit a road nearby.
Claiming responsibility for the strike, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said Israel’s main airport was “no longer safe for air travel.”
The Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, began targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping in late 2023, during the early days of the war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.
US President Donald Trump in March ordered large-scale strikes against the Houthis to deter them from targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond to the Houthis. “We attacked in the past, we will attack in the future ... There will be more blows,” he said.

Two held in Iran after deadly port explosion: state TV

This image shows a crater after an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas.
Updated 48 min 48 sec ago
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Two held in Iran after deadly port explosion: state TV

  • April 26 blast at a dock in the southern port of Shahid Rajaee killed at least 57 people and injured more than 1,000, officials said, revising down an earlier death toll

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities arrested two people including a government official in connection with a deadly explosion last month at the country’s main commercial port, state television reported on Sunday.
The April 26 blast at a dock in the southern port of Shahid Rajaee killed at least 57 people and injured more than 1,000, officials said, revising down an earlier death toll.
The judiciary on Sunday said the toll had been revised because “it was determined that some of the bodies considered separate were in fact one body,” adding that it could still change.
At the time of the blast, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni blamed “shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence.”
Shahid Rajaee is near Iran’s coastal city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.
“A government manager and another from the private sector have been arrested,” state television said on Sunday, citing a report from the investigating committee.
The committee announced on Monday that “false declarations (of goods) were made in some cases.”
It said on Sunday that “suspects have been identified and the summoning process is underway,” without elaborating.
The New York Times has quoted a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate — a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
Iran’s defense ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state television that “there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area.”


Palestinian detainee Najem dies in Israeli custody after medical negligence

Updated 04 May 2025
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Palestinian detainee Najem dies in Israeli custody after medical negligence

  • Mohyee al-Din Fahmi Najem is the 66th Palestinian prisoner since October 2023 to die in an Israeli prison
  • During a prison visit in March, Najem was unable to walk without assistance

LONDON: A Palestinian prisoner died on Sunday at Israel’s Soroka Medical Center after spending more than a year and a half in indefinite administrative detention, the Wafa news agency reported.

Mohyee al-Din Fahmi Najem, 60, was detained on Aug. 8, 2023 under administrative detention, a practice that allows Israeli authorities to hold individuals in prison without trial for six months, subject to indefinite renewals.

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, said Najem died after suffering from medical neglect in Israeli prisons.

The Palestinian Authority’s affiliated groups said that Najem “suffered from chronic illnesses and was denied proper medical care during his incarceration.”

Najem was a father of six from Jenin town, in the northern occupied West Bank, who has spent 19 years in Israeli prisons because of his political activism. During a March prison visit, he was unable to walk without assistance, according to the commission and the Prisoners’ Society. They accused Israeli authorities of “compound crimes” during Najem’s prolonged detention, and medical negligence.

He was previously held in the notorious Negev Prison, known for its outbreaks of scabies last November and poor hygiene and medical infrastructure.

Najem is the 66th Palestinian prisoner to die in an Israeli prison since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Among those who died, 40 were from the Gaza Strip.

Since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, 303 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody, with 75 of those bodies still being withheld by Israel.


UAE president, Qatar emir review regional developments in Abu Dhabi

Updated 04 May 2025
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UAE president, Qatar emir review regional developments in Abu Dhabi

  • Leaders discussed efforts to address the latest developments in the Middle East

LONDON: The president of the UAE and the emir of Qatar discussed bilateral ties during a meeting at Qasr Al-Shati in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest, focusing particularly on the latest developments in the Middle East and sharing insights on efforts to address them.

The leaders explored ways to boost cooperation for the benefit and prosperity of both nations, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Several senior officials and ministers attended the meeting, including Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.


Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 16, including 3 children

Updated 04 May 2025
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Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 16, including 3 children

  • Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas

GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency on Sunday said Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory killed 16 people, including at least three children.

Six people were killed in overnight air strikes in Khan Yunis governorate, in the south of the Gaza Strip, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said. They included two boys aged five and two, in an apartment in Al-Mawasi.

The civil defense later said 10 more people were killed in a strike on a tent also in Al-Mawasi, among them a child and seven women.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond for comment when contact by AFP. A spokesperson said they were gathering details.

A military statement issued in the morning said the army had “struck more than 100 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip” during the past two days.

It said soldiers found “weapons caches” and killed “a number of terrorists” in the south.

Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas, which was triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Sunday said at least 2,436 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the war’s overall death toll to 52,535.

Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza, saying Hamas had diverted supplies. Israel says the blockade is meant to pressure the militants into releasing hostages held in the Palestinian territory.

UN agencies have urged Israel to lift restrictions, saying Gazans have been experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe and warning of famine.