BEIRUT: Families of the victims of the Beirut port explosion staged a mass sit-in to protest at the obstruction of the official investigation that has been in limbo for more than a year.
The investigation into the August 2020 blast has sunk into the murk of Lebanese politics, as suspects including ministers and former prime ministers evade questioning and counter-sue the lead investigator Tarek Bitar.
The Free Patriotic Movement, Hezbollah and Amal are all pushing for the removal of Bitar to force through the release of suspects, including the head of customs Badri Daher, who are being held in custody.
Families gathered outside the Justice Palace in Beirut on Thursday as members of the Higher Judicial Council attempted to force through Bitar’s replacement. The motion however failed after two judges, including the council’s president, Suhail Abboud, refused to attend.
William Noun, brother of one of the victims and the families’ spokesman, thanked “the judges who caused the loss of quorum.” He said: “We don’t have a problem with the judges or the court, but with those who are trying to obstruct the investigation. Those who died in the explosion are not numbers and the court is for justice.”
Deputy Melhem Khalaf, former president of the Bar Association in Beirut, told Arab News that the attempt to replace Bitar was “an attempt to mess with the crime of the century and to turn against justice, the judiciary, and the law.”
The protest came a day after victims’ families threw stones at the Justice Palace, shattering the glass of some windows.
Several protesters were summoned for questioning on charges of vandalism and damaging offices. This further enraged the group, who said that they were being treated “as criminals, while they are families of innocent victims.”
Khalaf described the summoning as “a suspicious and unjust act toward the families of the victims who are already abused. We will not allow them to overthrow the case and insult the families of the victims.”
Many Kataeb and reformist deputies, including Sami Gemayel, Waddah Sadek, Elias Hankash and Michel Doueihy, joined the protest in solidarity with the families who were holding pictures of their victims.
Deputy Hankash said: “It’s shameful that the victims’ families are being summoned, while those accused of the crime don’t attend their hearings and consider themselves above the law. They are outsmarting the judiciary. How can they ask the victims’ families to remain peaceful?”
Deputy Ghassan Hasbani, who joined Thursday’s protest, said that “no one can escape punishment no matter how long it takes because right holders are always more powerful.”
The port explosion was caused by 1,750 tons of ammonium nitrate and other explosive material stored in a warehouse. More than 230 people were killed and 6,500 injured as the blast tore through Beirut’s waterfront and nearby neighborhoods.
Bitar had subpoenaed former Prime Minister Hassan Diab, and three former ministers — Ali Hassan Khalil (Finance), Ghazi Zeaiter (Public Works) and Nohad Machnouk (Interior) — to be prosecuted for “possible intentional killing” and negligence.
It is alleged that all knew the ammonium nitrate was stored in unsafe conditions but did nothing to secure it.
Amnesty International said on Thursday that it was “absurd” that no one had been held accountable, more than two years after the disaster.
Families of Beirut port blast victims stage mass sit-in
https://arab.news/65c9t
Families of Beirut port blast victims stage mass sit-in
- Families gathered outside the Justice Palace in Beirut on Thursday as members of the Higher Judicial Council attempted to force through Bitar’s replacement
- William Noun, brother of one of the victims and the families’ spokesman, thanked “the judges who caused the loss of quorum”
Israeli authorities arrest four Al-Aqsa guards, storm old prayer hall
- Israeli forces storm prayer hall beneath the Qibli Mosque, damaging its contents
- Jerusalem Governorate says action is part of efforts to assert control over the mosque’s administration and undermine the Waqf authority
LONDON: Israeli authorities arrested four guards at the Al-Aqsa Mosque during a search raid on Saturday night inside the compound’s old prayer hall.
The Jerusalem Governorate, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, said that the detainees were identified as Mohammad Arbash, Ramzi Al-Zaanin, Basem Abu Juma, and Iyad Odeh. Several other guards and a firefighter in the compound were interrogated at the site by Israelis, the Wafa news agency reported.
Just after midnight on Saturday, Israeli forces stormed the old prayer hall at Al-Aqsa, a subterranean area beneath the Qibli Mosque, damaging its contents after breaking into storage cabinets and searching the premises, Wafa added.
The governorate said the latest Israeli action was part of efforts to assert control over the mosque’s administration and undermine the authority of the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem.
After less than a week of complete closure under a state of emergency linked to the ongoing war with Iran, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was reopened by Israeli authorities, allowing Palestinian and other Muslim worshippers to enter the site under strict regulations, Wafa reported.
Palestinian Authority considers phasing out shekel as Israeli banks refuse to accept surplus
- Israeli banks’ refusal to accept the transfer of surplus shekels means fewer foreign currencies that are necessary for commerce and business
- Israel’s finance minister in June ended a waiver that allowed Israeli banks to engage with Palestinian ones without being scrutinized for money laundering and financing extremism
LONDON: The Palestinian Authority is considering replacing the Israeli shekel as the primary currency in circulation due to its increasing accumulation in the banks.
The Palestine Monetary Authority announced on Sunday that it has taken significant steps to address the growing accumulation of shekels in Palestinian banks after Israeli banks’ continuing refusal to accept the transfer of surplus shekels in exchange for foreign currencies necessary for commerce and business.
The PMA is considering alternative options, including a shift away from using the shekel as the primary currency in circulation, the Wafa news agency reported.
In early June, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ended a waiver that allowed Israeli banks to engage with Palestinian banks without being scrutinized for money laundering and financing extremism.
Smotrich, who has been outspoken about weakening the Palestinian Authority and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, made this decision shortly after being sanctioned by the UK and four European countries for inciting violence in the occupied West Bank.
The PMA said it aims to create a more resilient and sustainable digital economy in Palestine and has consulted various economic sectors and the Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture before it makes a final decision. Alongside phasing out the Israeli shekel, the PMA studied digital payment strategies to avoid shekel accumulation in Palestinian banks, Wafa reported.
How many hostages are left in Gaza?
- 50 hostages remain in captivity
- PM Netanyahu said Israel is committed to returning the remaining hostages even as it wages a new military campaign against Iran
Israel said Sunday that it has recovered the bodies of three more hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that ignited the ongoing 20-month war in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military identified them as Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19. All three were killed during the initial attack and their bodies were taken into Gaza. Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son’s remains were returned on what would have been Yonatan’s 23rd birthday.
The military did not provide details about the operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is committed to returning the remaining hostages even as it wages a new military campaign against Iran.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack. More than 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Here are details on the hostages:
Total hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023: 251
Hostages taken before the Oct. 7 attack: 4, including 2 who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015 and the bodies of 2 soldiers killed in the 2014 war
Hostages released in exchanges or other deals: 148, of whom 8 were dead
Bodies of hostages retrieved by Israeli forces: 49
Hostages rescued alive: 8
Hostages still in captivity: 50, of whom Israel believes 27 are dead. Netanyahu has said there are “doubts” about the fate of several more.
The hostages in captivity include four non-Israelis: 2 Thais and 1 Tanzanian who have been confirmed dead, and a Nepalese captive.
US, Israel crossed ‘big red line’, Iran FM says as heads to Moscow
- ‘Through this action, the United States has dealt a serious blow to international peace and security’
- Iran’s top envoy says any demand to return to negotiations was ‘irrelevant’
ISTANBUL: The United States and Israel crossed a major red line in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran’s top diplomat warned Sunday, saying he was heading to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
“They crossed a very big red line by attacking (Iran’s) nuclear facilities,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.
He was speaking just hours after President Donald Trump said US warplanes struck three Iranian nuclear sites, nine days into an Israeli bombing campaign targeting its nuclear facilities.
“The most dangerous one happened only last night,” Araghchi said, while acknowledging he did not know the full extent of the damage done in the strikes, including one at the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo.
“I still do not have exact information about the level of damages, but I don’t think it matters... Last night’s attack was a grave crime,” he said.
“Through this action, the United States has dealt a serious blow to international peace and security,” he said, vowing that Iran would defend itself “by all means necessary against... US military aggression.”
Araghchi said he would head to Moscow on Sunday and hold talks with Putin on Monday morning.
“I’m going to Moscow this afternoon” to hold “serious consultations with the Russian president tomorrow,” he said.
After the strikes, Trump said Iran “must now agree to end this war.”
But Araghchi said any demand to return to negotiations was “irrelevant.”
“The world must not forget that it was the United States which — in the midst of a process to forge a diplomatic outcome — betrayed diplomacy by supporting the genocidal Israeli regime’s launch of an illegal war of aggression on the Iranian nation,” he said.
“So we were in diplomacy, but we were attacked... They have proved that they are not men of diplomacy, and they only understand the language of threat and force.”
Turkiye, which was hosting the weekend OIC summit, warned that the strikes risked escalating the Iran-Israel conflict to a global level that could have “catastrophic” consequences.
“The ongoing developments could cause the regional conflict to escalate to a global level. We do not want this catastrophic scenario to come to life,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Iran missile barrage hits three areas in Israel, 23 hurt
- Public broadcaster KAN 11 showed images of a devastated building surrounded by mounds of rubble
JERUSALEM: Three areas of Israel including coastal hub Tel Aviv were hit Sunday morning during waves of Iranian missile attacks, with at least 23 people injured, according to rescue services and police.
Several buildings were heavily damaged in the Ramat Aviv area in Tel Aviv, with holes torn in the facades of apartment blocks.
“Houses here were hit very, very badly,” Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai told reporters at the scene. “Fortunately, one of them was slated for demolition and reconstruction, so there were no residents inside.
“Those who were in the shelter are all safe and well. The damage is very, very extensive, but in terms of human life, we are okay.”
The Israeli police said in a statement that they had been deployed to at least two other impact sites, one in Haifa in the north and another in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv.
A public square in a residential area of Haifa was left strewn with rubble and surrounding shops and homes have been heavily damaged, AFP photos showed.
Eli Bin, the head of Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom, told reporters that a total of 23 people had been wounded nationwide in the attacks, with “two in moderate condition and the rest lightly injured.”
Two waves of missiles were launched at Israel from around 7:30 am (0430 GMT), the Israeli military said.
Sirens rang across the country, with air defenses activated shortly afterwards, causing loud explosions heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Israeli police reported “the fall of weapon fragments” in a northern area encompassing the port of Haifa, where local authorities said emergency services were heading to an “accident site.”
Reporting on missile strikes is subject to strict military censorship rules in Israel, but at least 50 impacts have been officially acknowledged nation-wide and 25 people have been killed since the war began with Iran on June 13, according to official figures.
Tel Aviv, the southern city of Beersheba and the northern port of Haifa have been the three areas most frequently targeted by Iran.
Israel’s sophisticated air defenses have intercepted more than 450 missiles along with around 1,000 drones, according to the latest figures from the Israeli military.
