Hezbollah allies in Lebanon must ‘choose between bullets and ballots’

An image grab taken from a video posted on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV website on July 25, 2020, shows Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah. (File/AFP)
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Updated 09 September 2020
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Hezbollah allies in Lebanon must ‘choose between bullets and ballots’

  • Senior US official’s warning comes as Washington blacklists two Lebanese former ministers
  • Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker also calls for resolution of Gulf rift

NEW YORK: Hezbollah’s political allies in Lebanon will be held accountable for supporting the militant group, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

The warning, from Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, came shortly after the US Treasury blacklisted Lebanese former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former transport minister Youssef Fenianos.

They are accused of providing material support for, and granting political and economic favors to, Iran-backed Hezbollah, which the US considers a terrorist organization.

“Political allies of Hezbollah should know they will be held accountable for any enabling of its terrorist and illicit activities,” Schenker said after a tour of the Middle east that included visits to Kuwait, Qatar and Lebanon,

During his two-day stop in Lebanon, he chose only to meet with opposition demonstrators, in a sign of Washington’s exasperation with the country’s political establishment.


His visit came a month after the devastating explosion at Beirut’s port that damaged a large part of the city, at a time when people were already reeling from a prolonged political crisis, an economic meltdown and the coronavirus pandemic.

Schenker restated his country’s commitment to helping the Lebanese people recover from the Aug. 4 disaster, which killed more than 200 people.




US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker. (File/AFP)

He added that the US supports “their legitimate calls for economic and institutional reform, transparency, accountability and an end to the endemic corruption that has stifled Lebanon’s tremendous potential.”

Next month marks the first anniversary of public demonstrations that began when hundreds of thousands people in Lebanon took to the streets to protest against the worsening economic and social problems caused by these issues.

“The Lebanese people made clear their desire for meaningful change, and for their government and political leaders to chart a new direction dedicated to reform and the end of corruption, to help Lebanon exit this current crisis,” Schenker said.

He vowed that Washington will maintain its pressure on Hezbollah, its supporters and “other corrupt actors” for obstructing the Lebanese people’s “aspirations for economic opportunity, accountability and transparency.”

He added: “It’s time for different politics in Lebanon.”

Schenker also highlighted the difference of opinion between the US and France about Hezbollah, which Paris views as two separate entities: a political party and a military wing.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with a number of Lebanese political leaders, including Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad, during his Beirut visit last week.

“In democracies you have to choose between bullets and ballots,” Schenker said. “You cannot have both. Political parties do not have militias.”

However, he said the US and France are on same page when it comes to political and economic reforms being a prerequisite for any unlocking of international financial assistance to Lebanon.

In the wider regional context, Schenker also reiterated Washington’s desire for the Gulf rift to be resolved. Unity among Gulf nations is an important step forward in efforts to counter “Iran’s malign influence in the region,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017 over Doha’s connections to Iran and its alleged support for terrorism.

 


The “dispute only serves the interests of our adversaries and harms our mutual interests,” Schenker added.

He also highlighted the united front displayed by the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar — last month, when they called on the UN Security Council to extend the international arms embargo on Iran, as a powerful step that showed “the collective strength of a united Gulf that’s needed for the sake of advancing greater peace and security.”

He acknowledged that there are “long standing and deep-seated disagreements” within the GCC but said US efforts to help resolve the disputes will continue “and we are hopeful that we’ll eventually get to a solution on that.”

Schenker also said the recent Abraham Accord, the agreement between Israel and the UAE to normalize relations, has had a significant effect on his discussions with Gulf partners. He added that he hopes other countries will follow the example set by the UAE and make efforts to establish formal relations with Israel.

“The (UAE-Israel) agreement provides the foundation for advances toward regional peace, and puts the region on a truly transformative path,” he added.

 

 

 

 


Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM

Updated 4 sec ago
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Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM

  • Ehud Olmert slams proposal by defense minister, saying it amounts to ethnic cleansing
  • He condemns settler crimes in West Bank, calling extremist Israeli ministers ‘enemies from within’

London: Plans to build a “humanitarian city” for displaced Palestinians in Gaza would amount to creating a concentration camp, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.

The plan, outlined by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last week and backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes to relocate around 600,000 Palestinians — and eventually Gaza’s entire population of over 2 million — to the site in Rafah. Once there, they would only be allowed to leave if traveling abroad.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told The Guardian. “If they (Palestinians) will be deported into the new ‘humanitarian city,’ then you can say that this is part of an ethnic cleansing.”

He added: “When they build a camp where they (say they plan to) ‘clean’ more than half of Gaza, then the inevitable understanding of the strategy of this (is that) it is not to save (Palestinians).

“It is to deport them, to push them and to throw them away. There is no other understanding that I have, at least.”

Israeli legal experts and journalists wrote to Katz last week warning that “under certain conditions it could amount to the crime of genocide.”

Olmert also condemned the uptick in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, criticizing complicity by Israeli authorities and calling the deaths of two men recently, including a US citizen, war crimes.

“(It is) unforgivable. Unacceptable. There are continuous operations organised, orchestrated in the most brutal, criminal manner by a large group,” he said.

“There is no way that they can operate in such a consistent, massive and widespread manner without a framework of support and protection which is provided by the (Israeli) authorities in the (Occupied) Territories.”

Discussing extreme right-wing Israeli Cabinet ministers pushing the violence in the West Bank and using language such as “cleanse” in relation to Gaza, Olmert called them “the enemy from within,” warning that their rhetoric and actions would fuel anti-Israel sentiment.

“In the US there is more and more and more expanding expressions of hatred to Israel,” he said. “We make a discount to ourselves saying: ‘They are antisemites.’ I don’t think that they are only antisemites, I think many of them are anti-Israel because of what they watch on television, what they watch on social networks.

“This is a painful but normal reaction of people who say: ‘Hey, you guys have crossed every possible line.’”

Olmert said that although he backed the initial invasion of Gaza after the October 2023 Hamas attack, he is “ashamed and heartbroken” at how Israel’s government has prosecuted the war and abandoned peace negotiations.

“What can I do to change the attitude, except for number one, recognising these evils, and number two, to criticise them and to make sure the international public opinion knows there are (other) voices, many voices in Israel?” he asked.

Saying he believes the Israeli military’s actions have caused “the killing of a large number of non-involved people,” he added: “I cannot refrain from accusing this government of being responsible for war crimes committed.”

However, he voiced hope that peace and a two-state solution are still possible, telling The Guardian that he is working with former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Qidwa to lobby the international community to help make it happen.


Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias

Updated 6 min 7 sec ago
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Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias

  • Fighting between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters was the first time that sectarian violence erupted inside the city of Sweida itself

DAMASCUS: Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias there.
Dozens of people have been killed in the fighting between local militias and clans in Syria ‘s Sweida province. Government security forces that were sent to restore order Monday also clashed with local armed groups.
The Interior Ministry has said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured in that fighting.
Dozens of people have been killed in fighting between local militias and clans in Syria ‘s Sweida province, where government security forces sent to restore order Monday also clashed with local armed groups.
The Interior Ministry said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor reported at least 50 dead, including two children and six members of the security forces.
Clashes initially broke out between armed groups from the Druze religious minority and Sunni Bedouin clans, the observatory said, with some members of the government security forces “actively participating” in support of the Bedouins.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba told the state-run state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV that government forces entered Sweida in the early morning to restore order.
“Some clashes occurred with outlawed armed groups, but our forces are doing their best to prevent any civilian casualties,” he said.
The observatory said the clashes started after a series of kidnappings between both groups, which began when members of a Bedouin tribe in the area set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a young Druze man.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the observatory, said the conflict started with the kidnapping and robbery of a Druze vegetable seller, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.
Syria’s defense and interior ministries were deploying personnel to the area to attempt to restore order.
The Interior Ministry described the situation as a dangerous escalation that “comes in the absence of the relevant official institutions, which has led to an exacerbation of the state of chaos, the deterioration of the security situation, and the inability of the local community to contain the situation despite repeated calls for calm.”
Factions from the Druze minority have been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus after former President Bashar Assad fled the country during a rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups in December. Earlier this year, Druze groups in Sweida clashed with security forces from the new government.
The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
The Druze developed their own militias during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war. Since Assad’s fall, different Druze factions have been at odds over whether to integrate with the new government and armed forces.


Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

Updated 14 July 2025
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Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

  • Wizz said geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand
  • Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region

LONDON: Low-cost carrier Wizz Air said on Monday it was quitting its Abu Dhabi operation after six years to focus on its main European market, citing geopolitical instability and limited market access.

Wizz, which originally focused on central and eastern Europe but expanded into Britain, Italy and Austria, said in future it would concentrate on its much more profitable European business.

Wizz said the geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand, while the impact of the hot environment in the Middle East had hurt engine efficiency, making it hard to operate its low-cost model.

Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region as it had hoped, the airline said.

“They just couldn’t make money out of the Middle East,” Davy analyst Stephen Furlong said.

Wizz said it will stop local flights from Sept. 1, 2025 and would be contacting customers regarding refunds.

“Supply chain constraints, geopolitical instability, and limited market access have made it increasingly difficult to sustain our original ambitions,” Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi said in a statement.

“While this was a difficult decision, it is the right one given the circumstances,” he added.

Wizz Air is in talks with Airbus about scaling back its order for 47 A321XLR, a longer range aircraft, and converting some of them to regular A321 jet.

“We have 47 XLRs on order. We are going to scale that back,” Varadi said.

“We have conversion rights for the majority of that of that aircraft order. So we are talking to the manufacturer.”


Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks

Updated 14 July 2025
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Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks

  • Iran had been negotiating with the US before Israel began strikes on its nuclear facilities last month
  • The US launched its own set of strikes against Iran’s nuclear program on June 22

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no specific date” for a meeting with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear program, following a war with Israel that had derailed negotiations.

“For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei of plans for a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Iran had been negotiating with the United States before Israel began strikes on its nuclear facilities last month, which Washington later joined.

Araghchi and Witkoff met five times, starting in April, without concluding a deal, before Israel launched surprise strikes on June 13, starting a 12-day war.

“We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round the Zionist regime, in coordination with the United States, committed military aggression against Iran,” said Baqaei.

The United States launched its own set of strikes against Iran’s nuclear program on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.

The extent of the damage from the strikes remains unknown.

With its own strikes, numbering in the hundreds, Israel killed nuclear scientists and top-ranking military officers as well as hitting military, nuclear and other sites.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel, while it attacked a US base in Qatar in retaliation for Washington’s strikes.

Israel and Western nations accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied.

While it is the only non-nuclear power to enrich uranium to 60-percent purity, close to the level needed for a warhead, the UN’s atomic energy watchdog has said it had no indication that Iran was working to weaponize its stockpiles.


Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack

Updated 14 July 2025
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Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack

  • The agency said the residents of the building were ordinary citizens

DUBAI: An explosion at a residential building injured seven people in the Pardisan neighborhood of Qom city, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported, going on to quote an unnamed source saying it was not the result of any Israeli attack.
“Four residential units were damaged in the blast. Initial assessments show that the cause of the incident was a gas leak, and follow-ups are continuing in this regard,” the director of Qom’s fire department told Fars.
The agency said the residents of the building were ordinary citizens.
Iran’s regional arch-rival Israel has a record of assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists, whom it considers part of a program that directly threatens Israel. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Since the end of a 12-day air war last month between Iran and Israel, in which Israel and the United States attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, several explosions have occurred in Iran, but authorities have not blamed Israel.
“People should not worry about rumors (of Israeli attacks). If a hostile action occurs in the country, the news will immediately reach the people and alarm bells will simultaneously be activated in the Occupied Territories,” Fars quoted an unnamed Iranian source as saying following the blast in Qom.