‘Help us help you’: French envoy’s plea to Lebanon

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, wearing a mask to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, arrives to meet Lebanese president Michel Aoun at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 23, 2020. (AP)
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Updated 24 July 2020
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‘Help us help you’: French envoy’s plea to Lebanon

  • Foreign minister kicks off two-day visit with call for urgent reforms

BEIRUT: French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian began a two-day visit to Lebanon on Thursday with a call to “help us help you” amid the country’s worsening economic and financial crisis.

Wearing a face mask featuring the French and Lebanese national flags, Le Drian said: “France stands with Lebanon in these difficult circumstances, as it has always done throughout history.”

The minister, who arrived in Beirut late on Wednesday, called for reforms to help Lebanon tackle the problems plaguing the country’s economy.

“This is a message that I convey to all Lebanese authorities and political parties, for it is not only what France aims for but it is what the whole international community is seeking,” he said.

Le Drian, the first foreign official to visit Lebanon amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said France “insists on helping Lebanon and looks forward to implementing the much-needed reforms.”

He added: “The terms of the CEDRE conference are still standing and could be activated in parallel with the reforms the Lebanese government vowed to endorse in Paris.”

The 2018 conference, staged in Paris, attempted to find ways to boost the Lebanese economy.

The Lebanese government at the time, headed by Saad Hariri, the former prime minister, had presented a comprehensive investment and reform plan for Lebanon. Donor countries vowed to provide support based on special conditions and mechanisms, and promised $12 billion in financial aid.

According to the Presidential Palace Media Office, the French minister listened to a presentation by Lebanese President Michel Aoun on the “steps that were achieved in the field of fighting corruption, including approving forensic financial auditing of state finances.”

Aoun highlighted “difficulties and obstacles to fighting corruption, especially with numerous perpetrators who are exerting pressures to obstruct it.”

The Lebanese leader stressed that Lebanon “clings to UN Resolution 1701,” and thanked France for “the role that it is playing to renew the term of the UNIFIL in Lebanon.” He talked about the implications of COVID-19 and the impact of displaced Syrians on the Lebanese economy, which “cost Lebanon $40 billion, according to data provided by international organizations.”

The president said that “Lebanese-French relations are deeply rooted in history, which necessitates cooperation for the benefit of both friendly countries and peoples.”

Le Drian called for a relaunch of negotiations with the IMF, saying: “There is no other solution to get Lebanon out of its crisis and I carry the message for the Lebanese, help us to help you.”

The French minister’s tour included a visit to Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri.

Diab’s office issued a statement which said the Prime Minister told Le Drian that the government achieved many reforms and faced many obstacles, but was still able to set a timetable for the rest of the reforms. Diab said Lebanon needs France’s support with electricity and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He added that the government will continue the reforms with transparency.

A meeting was also held in the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti and his team.

In a joint press conference, the French minister said: “Lebanon is facing a critical situation, and the economic crisis is great and has repercussions for the Lebanese, but France is determined to stand by the Lebanese people in these difficult circumstances. We want to prevent the crisis from affecting coexistence in Lebanon. Solutions for the crisis are available in the CEDRE conference resolutions, but needed reform should be implemented to get Lebanon out of its ordeal.”

Le Drian also toured Haret Hreik, a southern suburb of Beirut, where he visited the Amel Association International social center.

Amel President Dr. Kamel Mhanna told Arab News he was “personally keen that the French minister visits the region to talk to people in Amel who are Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian.”

“Dozens of French ministers visit Amel when they come to Lebanon. We have partnerships with French associations in the fields of vocational education, health and food. We have centers all over Lebanon and through this direct meeting between the French minister and the people, away from the media, the minister will elaborate an idea about the situation that everybody is suffering from in this country,” Mhanna said.

Le Drian is the first French or European official to visit Lebanon following the rise of the civil protest movement on Oct. 17 last year.

The French minister later met Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi in Bkerki, the supreme religious authority in the Maronite community.
 


Abbas to discuss weapons in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps during Beirut visit: delegation member

Updated 11 sec ago
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Abbas to discuss weapons in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps during Beirut visit: delegation member

  • Mahmoud Abbas will meet with the Lebanese president during his three-day visit to the country

RAMALLAH: A member of Mahmoud Abbas’ delegation to Beirut told AFP on Tuesday that the Palestinian president will discuss the issue of weapons in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps during his three-day visit to the country.
“The issue of Palestinian weapons in the camps will be one of the topics on the agenda for discussion between President Abbas, the Lebanese President and the Lebanese government,” said Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee who is accompanying Abbas on the visit.


UK halts trade talks with Israel, summons envoy over Gaza

Updated 12 min 11 sec ago
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UK halts trade talks with Israel, summons envoy over Gaza

  • Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of 'egregious actions and rhetoric'
  • The moves are the UK's toughest stance yet against Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza

LONDON: Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel on Tuesday and summoned its ambassador to the foreign ministry in its toughest stance yet against Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of “egregious actions and rhetoric” over its expansion of military operations in the Palestinian territory.
During an impassioned speech to Britain’s parliament, Lammy also said the UK government was imposing new sanctions on individuals and organizations involved in settlements in the West Bank.
“The world is judging, history will judge them. Blocking aid, expanding the war, dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible and it must stop,” he said.
Lammy said Britain “cannot stand by in the face of this new deterioration” in Gaza and was pausing negotiations with Israel on a new free-trade agreement.
He said Britain would be “reviewing cooperation” with Israel under its so-called 2030 roadmap for UK-Israel relations.

The world is judging, history will judge them. Blocking aid, expanding the war, dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible and it must stop

Foreign Secretary David Lammy

“Netanyahu government’s actions have made this necessary,” Lammy said.
Israel’s government responded by saying “external pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction.”
“If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its own prerogative,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said in a statement.
Lammy said the Israeli government’s plan to displace the Gaza population and its limiting of aid to civilians “facing starvation, homelessness and trauma” meant the conflict was “entering a dark new phase.”
Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely was being summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office in protest against “the wholly disproportionate escalation of military activity in Gaza.”
He added that Israel’s weeks-long blockade on aid entering the strip, which was marginally lifted on Monday, had been “cruel and indefensible.”
The UK government announced financial restrictions and travel bans, targeting prominent settler leader Daniella Weiss and two other individuals, as well as two illegal outposts and two organizations accused of backing violence against Palestinian communities.
Lammy said Israel suffered a “heinous attack” at the hands of Palestinian Hamas militants on October 7, 2023 and the UK government had backed Israel’s right to defend itself.
He repeated calls that Hamas must release all remaining Israeli hostages seized that day “immediately and unconditionally.” He also reiterated that Hamas “cannot continue to run Gaza.”
Britain and Israel opened negotiations on a free-trade agreement in 2022.
According to the British government, Israel was the country’s 44th-largest trading partner last year, with the two countries exchanging 5.8 billion pounds ($7.8 billion) in goods and services.


Rubio says US has not discussed deportation of Palestinians from Gaza to Libya

Updated 22 min 2 sec ago
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Rubio says US has not discussed deportation of Palestinians from Gaza to Libya

  • Rubio said he was not aware of Libya being included
  • He also said the US was pleased to see the resumption of food shipments to Gaza

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the United States has not discussed the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, but he said that Washington had asked other countries in the region if they would be open to accepting Gazans who want to move voluntarily.

“What we have talked to some nations about is if someone voluntarily and willingly says I want to go somewhere else for some period of time because I’m sick, because my children need to go to school, or what have you, are there countries in the region willing to accept them for some period of time?,” Rubio said, adding that he was not aware of Libya being included in that.

Rubio also told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States was pleased to see the resumption of food shipments to Gaza, adding that the United States understands that another 100 trucks are behind the initial ones to cross in to Gaza and more might enter in the coming days.


Lebanon pushes for local elections despite Israeli attacks

Updated 26 min 12 sec ago
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Lebanon pushes for local elections despite Israeli attacks

  • Interior minister underlines commitment to ensure elections are conducted with integrity and safety
  • Elections in the South and Nabatieh governorates, scheduled for their fourth phase this coming Saturday, will be held during ongoing Israeli incursions south and north of the Litani River

BEIRUT: The Lebanese government still faces one final — and perhaps the most security sensitive — electoral challenge: the elections in the South and Nabatieh governorates.

These elections, scheduled for their fourth phase this coming Saturday, will be held during ongoing Israeli incursions south and north of the Litani River.

Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar, in the southern city of Sidon on Tuesday, affirmed that “the government is mindful of the potential for Israeli violations and assaults during the municipal elections scheduled for Saturday. However, the decision remains clear and resolute regarding the continuation of the electoral process regardless of the circumstances.”

The minister emphasized to Mansour Daou, the governor of South Lebanon, and representatives of the security, military, and judicial agencies in the South, “the state’s commitment to ensuring that the elections are conducted with integrity and safety,” underscoring their significance as part of the reconstruction process for the people of the South.

In the lead-up to the elections, an Israeli military drone targeted a motorcycle on the road between Mansouri and Majdalzoun in the Tyre district, resulting in reports from the Ministry of Health indicating that “nine individuals were injured, including two children, with three of the injured in critical condition.”

Another Israeli drone launched a bomb at fishermen off the coast of Ras Al-Naqoura.

Attention in the south is focused on two issues: observing the extent to which people will participate in the elections, particularly those whose homes were destroyed and displaced to other villages; and monitoring Hezbollah’s ability to maintain its popularity in the south, where the devastation and rubble are still visible to the public. To date, no reconstruction has occurred in any facilities either north or south of the Litani River, because Israel has turned the border area into a devastated and desolate zone, maintaining its occupation of five strategic hills and daily thwarting any attempts to establish readymade rooms for logistical purposes to assist the affected population.

The latest data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, as of May 12, indicates that since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Nov. 27, “Israel has killed 156 individuals and injured 376 others, with a total of 3,138 air and maritime violations recorded.”

According to the Israeli army, “by the end of April, around 140 Hezbollah members had been eliminated, with the vast majority of assassinations (more than 50 percent) taking place south of the Litani River. Assassinations north of the Litani River and in the Bekaa region accounted for 48 percent of the operations; 33.3 percent north of the Litani River and 14.7 percent in the Bekaa.”

The Israeli army claimed that “the majority of the assassinated members belonged to Hezbollah’s Aziz, Nasr and Badr units.” In a new study, the Israeli Alma Center stated: “Those individuals were involved in the rehabilitation of infrastructure on the ground.” 


Rubio says Syria could be weeks away from ‘full-scale civil war’

Updated 20 May 2025
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Rubio says Syria could be weeks away from ‘full-scale civil war’

  • US Secretary of State says Syria is weeks away from a potential collapse and splitting up

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Syria could be weeks away from a fresh civil war of “epic proportions,” as he called for support to the transitional leadership.
“It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they’re facing, are maybe weeks — not many months — away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up,” Rubio told a US Senate hearing.
The top US diplomat spoke after a series of bloody attacks on the Alawite and Druze minorities in Syria, where Islamist-led fighters in December toppled Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive after a brutal civil war that began in 2011.
US President Donald Trump last week on a visit to Saudi Arabia announced a lifting of Assad-era sanctions and met with the guerrilla leader who is now Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
Sharaa, clad in a suit and complimented by Trump as a “young, attractive guy,” was until recently on a US wanted list over jihadist connections.
Rubio quipped: “The transitional authority figures, they didn’t pass their background check with the FBI.”
But he added: “If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we did not engage them, it was guaranteed to not work out.”
Rubio, who also met with Syria’s foreign minister in Turkiye on Thursday, blamed the renewed violence on the legacy of Assad, a largely secular leader who hailed from the Alawite sect.
“They are dealing with deep internal distrust in that country, because Assad deliberately pitted these groups against each other,” Rubio said.