Saad Hariri expects the worse for Lebanon

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri gestures to his supporters after he paid his respects at the grave of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, on the 17th anniversary of his assassination in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)
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Updated 14 February 2022
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Saad Hariri expects the worse for Lebanon

  • On 17th anniversary of his father’s assassination, former PM fears extension of parliament’s mandate

BEIRUT: The situation in Lebanon is deteriorating, said former Prime Minister Saad Hariri during a meeting with his parliamentary bloc on Sunday.

Hariri met his supporters after he had paid his respects at the grave of his father, Rafik Hariri, on the 17th anniversary of his assassination in Beirut.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati and former premier Fouad Siniora also prayed at the grave.

Hariri said that his home in Beirut will remain open, and the Future Movement will continue to work with the people and provide services and assistance to them, and it will never abandon its people.

The anniversary is  a few weeks after Hariri announced he was leaving politics for now and would not run in upcoming parliamentary elections.

Thousands gathered in front of Hariri’s tomb in Beirut for a moment of silence at 12:55 p.m., to commemorate the murder.

The supporters raised blue Future Movement banners and pictures of Saad Hariri, cheering and waving as he walked past them.

One supporter said: “How will become of life in Lebanon? The day of the assassination was a dark one, and it has gotten darker with Hariri’s withdrawal from political life.”

A woman from Tariq Al-Jadida said: “They killed the father and betrayed the son, so we became orphans, but we will never hand over our fate to them.”

The size of the crowd at Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut surprised event organizers.

People climbed the stairs of the Al-Amin Mosque next to the tomb and filled the parallel road.

The Future Movement did not invite its supporters to participate but supporters rallied for the commemoration on social media.

The annual gathering was different this year, as Hariri did not give his usual speech.

He simply recited Al-Fatihah in front of his father’s tomb, along with his aunt, MP Bahia Hariri, her husband and some family members.

He seemed very moved as he waved to the people who waited for him to greet them.

“The scene at the tomb says it all,” Hariri told the media.

Political, religious, diplomatic, social and economic figures visited Rafik Hariri’s tomb to mark the occasion. They included a Russian delegation, headed by Minister Plenipotentiary at the Russian Embassy in Lebanon Ivan Medvedsky.

Japanese Ambassador to Lebanon Takeshi Okubo tweeted on Monday, “We commemorate PM Rafik Hariri’s efforts with many countries, including Japan, for the reconstruction of Lebanon.”

Walid Jumblatt, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, said after visiting the tomb: “It was written for us to recite Al-Fatihah in Moukhtara, and in Beirut in Martyrs’ Square every year. It was written for us to persevere and we will.”

Former Future Movement MP Mustafa Alloush said: “We are seeing the results of the project that began with Rafik Hariri’s assassination, which is the invasion of the entire region that led to the destruction of Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.”

MP Mohammed Al-Hajjar noted: “Seventeen years have passed, and we are witnessing a state of denial and rejection of all calls for reform and commitment to Lebanon’s interests.

“Some still insist on dragging Lebanon away from our Arabism and true belonging. President Michel Aoun said we were going to Hell and Rafik Hariri’s assassination was certainly the gateway.”

Addressing his bloc MPs on Sunday, Hariri reaffirmed his withdrawal from political life, which he announced on Jan. 24.

He called on the Future Movement to take the same step and not to run for parliamentary elections or submit any nominations in the movement’s name.

He reportedly said: “Regardless of my political position and my decision, but my personal reading of the situation is that it will get worse, and my advice to you as a brother and not as a leader, is not to run for elections, because nothing portends positivity; spare yourselves the insults.”

Hariri had expressed his conviction that this step was correct because “there is no room for any positive opportunity for Lebanon, in light of Iranian influence, international confusion, national division, the rise of sectarian tensions and the deterioration of the state.”

When the MPs asked what they should do in the next stage in parliament, Hariri said: “Everyone must abide by their legislative duty, not boycott parliament. Participate in sessions and discuss the draft budget.

“Should there be a decision to extend the parliament mandate, then the bloc must boycott the session. The option to resign from parliament entirely would then be discussed.”

Hariri reportedly told MPs who wish to run for elections: “Every person who wants to run, believes they can win and has the financial, political and popular requirements to fight the electoral battle, can do whatever they want, but without using the name of Saad Hariri or the Future Movement.”

He added: “I will not provide cover for anyone and I do not want to be on anyone’s side.

“Make the alliances you believe serve you best, but you know who I do not want you to ally with.”

The bombing on Feb. 14, 2005, killed Rafik Hariri and Minister Bassem Fleihan and dozens of people who were in the Ain Al-Mraiseh area at the time.


Lebanon greets Saudi basketball delegation

Updated 9 sec ago
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Lebanon greets Saudi basketball delegation

  • The arrival of Al-Ittihad marks significant step following Beirut’s efforts to rebuild international trust
  • Lebanese PM Salam welcomes Saudi team ‘to your second home’ after travel ban lifted

BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad Jeddah Basketball Club landed in Beirut on Friday afternoon, arriving from the Red Sea city on a Middle East Airlines flight.

This marks the first time Saudi nationals have visited Lebanon since the Kingdom’s authorities imposed a travel ban on citizens heading to the country in 2019.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the Saudi team.

“This is a visit filled with hope for increased cooperation in various fields, and an opportunity to strengthen the fraternal relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“Welcome to your second home, and among your people.”

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. (AFP/File)

Lebanon’s Youth and Sports Minister Nora Bayrakdarian was at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport to receive the Saudi sports delegation.

Al-Ittihad is participating in the FIBA West Asia Super League final eight, alongside teams from Kuwait, the UAE, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, and two teams from Lebanon —Al-Riyadi and Sagesse SC  — in matches from May 10-18.

The UAE lifted its travel ban on its citizens visiting Lebanon, and Emirati travelers began arriving in the Mediterranean country at the beginning of this week.

Lebanon is eagerly anticipating the return of other Gulf nationals, particularly in light of President Joseph Aoun’s recent visits to Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, aimed at restoring international trust in the country.

On May 7, an Emirates plane landed at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, and the passengers from the UAE were welcomed with flowers.

At the time, the Lebanese ambassador to the UAE, Fouad Chehab Dandan, posted pictures of the warm reception on his Facebook account.

The ambassador commented: “A step that brings hope for the return of our Arab brothers to their second home, Lebanon, which will welcome and receive them with flowers, warmth, and love.”
 


UN’s top anti-racism body calls for immediate Gaza aid access

Updated 54 min 46 sec ago
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UN’s top anti-racism body calls for immediate Gaza aid access

  • Civilian population ‘at imminent risk of famine, disease and death,’ statement warns
  • Israel has blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza since March in bid to ‘pressurize Hamas’

NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s top anti-racism body has called for immediate humanitarian access to Gaza in a bid to avoid “catastrophic consequences” for its civilian population.

The statement by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — comprised of independent experts — came hours after the World Central Kitchen charity said it was forced to end operations in Gaza due to a lack of food.

It also follows a commitment by Israel to “conquer” almost all of the enclave, as well as disputes involving Israel, the UN and US over the appropriate way to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians there.

The CERD committee is convening in Geneva for its latest session, ending today.

Gaza’s civilian population, “especially vulnerable groups such as children, women, the elderly and persons with disabilities,” are “at imminent risk of famine, disease and death,” the committee said.

The warning follows an earlier appeal by the World Food Programme, the UN’s food agency, which said that almost all food aid operations in Gaza had collapsed.

Late last month, the agency announced that the entirety of its food reserves in the enclave had been depleted.

Since March, Israel has blocked humanitarian aid into Gaza in a bid to build pressure on Hamas, which still holds Israeli hostages.

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, said last week: “Two months ago, the Israeli authorities took a deliberate decision to block all aid to Gaza and halt our efforts to save survivors of their military offensive.

“They have been bracingly honest that this policy is to pressurize Hamas.”

Expanded military operations by Israel in Gaza over the past two months “have dramatically worsened the humanitarian crisis and severely endangered the civilian population,” Friday’s CERD statement said.

The committee called on Israel to “lift all barriers to humanitarian access, allow the immediate and unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid, and cease all actions obstructing the provision of essential services to the civilian population in Gaza.”

The statement also highlighted worsening conditions across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including in East Jerusalem, where Israel closed six UNRWA schools this week.

Philippe Lazzarini, the Palestinian refugee agency’s chief, reacted with fury over the move, describing it as an “assault on children.”

The CERD statement called on all UN states to “cooperate to bring an end to the violations that are taking place and to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including by ceasing any military assistance.”


UN committee warns of ‘another Nakba’ in Palestinian territories

Updated 09 May 2025
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UN committee warns of ‘another Nakba’ in Palestinian territories

  • During the 1948 war, around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes in what became known as “the Nakba”

GENEVA: The world could be witnessing “another Nakba” expulsion of Palestinians, a United Nations committee warned Friday, accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and saying it was inflicting “unimaginable suffering” on Palestinians.

For Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the “Nakba,” or catastrophe — the mass displacement in the war that accompanied to Israel’s creation in 1948.

“Israel continues to inflict unimaginable suffering on the people living under its occupation, whilst rapidly expanding confiscation of land as part of its wider colonial aspirations,” warned a UN committee tasked with probing Israeli practices affecting Palestinian rights.

“What we are witnessing could very well be another Nakba,” it said, after concluding an annual mission to Amman.

During the 1948 war, around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes in what became known as “the Nakba.”

The descendants of some 160,000 Palestinians who managed to remain in what became Israel presently make about 20 percent of its population.

The UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories was established by the UN General Assembly in December 1968.

The committee is currently composed of the Sri Lankan, Malaysian and Senegalese ambassadors to the UN in New York.

“What the world is witnessing could very well be a second Nakba. The goal of wider colonial expansion is clearly the priority of the government of Israel,” they said in their report.

“Security operations are used as a smokescreen for rapid land grabbing, mass displacement, dispossession, demolitions, forced evictions and ethnic cleansing, in order to replace the Palestinian communities with Jewish settlers.”


Iran, US to resume nuclear talks on Sunday after postponement

Updated 09 May 2025
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Iran, US to resume nuclear talks on Sunday after postponement

  • Fourth round of indirect negotiations, initially set for May 3 in Rome, postponed due to ‘logistical reasons’

DUBAI: Iran has agreed to hold a fourth round of nuclear talks with the United States on Sunday in Oman, Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said on Friday, adding that the negotiations were advancing.

US President Donald Trump, who withdrew Washington from a 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers meant to curb its nuclear activity, has threatened to bomb Iran if no new deal is reached to resolve the long unresolved dispute.

Western countries say Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran accelerated after the US walkout from the now moribund 2015 accord, is geared toward producing weapons, whereas Iran insists it is purely for civilian purposes.

“The negotiations are moving forward, and naturally, the further we go, the more consultations and reviews are needed,” Aragchi said in remarks carried by Iranian state media.

“The delegations require more time to examine the issues that are raised. But what is important is that we are on a forward-moving path and gradually entering into the details.”

The fourth round of indirect negotiations, initially scheduled for May 3 in Rome, was postponed, with mediator Oman citing “logistical reasons.”

Aragchi said a planned visit to Qatar and Saudi Arabia on Saturday was in line with “continuous consultations” with neighboring countries to “address their concerns and mutual interests” about the nuclear issue. 


No milk, no diapers: US aid cuts hit Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Updated 09 May 2025
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No milk, no diapers: US aid cuts hit Syrian refugees in Lebanon

  • Merhi and her family are among the millions of people affected by Trump’s decision to freeze USAID funding to humanitarian programs
  • Since the freeze, the UNHCR and WFP have had to limit the amount of aid they provide

BEIRUT: Amal Al-Merhi’s twin 10-month-old daughters often go without milk or diapers.

She feeds them a mix of cornstarch and water, because milk is too expensive. Instead of diapers, Merhi ties plastic bags around her babies’ waists.

The effect of their poverty is clear, she said.

“If you see one of the twins, you would not believe she is 10-months-old,” Merhi said in a phone interview. “She is so small and soft.”

The 20-year-old Syrian mother lives in a tent with her family of five in an informal camp in Bar Elias in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

She fled Syria’s civil war in 2013 and has been relying on cash assistance from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR to get by.

But that has ended.

Merhi and her family are among the millions of people affected by US President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze USAID funding to humanitarian programs.

Since the freeze, the UNHCR and the World Food Program (WFP) have had to limit the amount of aid they provide to some of the world’s most vulnerable people in countries from Lebanon to Chad and Ukraine.

In February, the WFP was forced to cut the number of Syrian refugees receiving cash assistance to 660,000 from 830,000, meaning the organization is reaching 76 percent of the people it planned to target, a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the WFP’s shock responsive safety net that supports Lebanese citizens cut its beneficiaries to 40,000 from 162,000 people, the spokesperson added.

The UNHCR has been forced to reduce all aspects of its operations in Lebanon, said Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR’s country representative, in an interview.

The agency cut 347,000 people from the UNHCR component of a WFP-UNHCR joint program as of April, a spokesperson said. Every family had been receiving $45 monthly from UNHCR, they added.

The group can support 206,000 Syrian refugees until June, when funds will dry up, they also said.

“We need to be very honest to everyone that the UNHCR of the past that could be totally on top of issues in a very expedient manner with lots of quality and resources — that is no longer the case,” Freijsen said. “We regret that sincerely.”

BAD TO WORSE
By the end of March, the UNHCR had enough money to cover only 17 percent of its planned global operations, and the budget for Lebanon is only 14 percent funded.

Lebanon is home to the largest refugee population per capita in the world.

Roughly 1.5 million Syrians, half of whom are formally registered with the UNHCR, live alongside some 4 million Lebanese.

Islamist-led rebels ousted former Syrian leader Bashar Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces. Since then there have been outbreaks of deadly sectarian violence, and fears among minorities are rising.

In March, hundreds of Syrians fled to Lebanon after killings targeted the minority Alawite sect.

Lebanon has been in the grips of unyielding crises since its economy imploded in 2019. The war between Israel and armed group Hezbollah is expected to wipe billions of dollars from the national wealth as well, the United Nations has said.

Economic malaise has meant fewer jobs for everyone, including Syrian refugees.

“My husband works one day and then sits at home for 10,” Merhi said. “We need help. I just want milk and diapers for my kids.”

DANGEROUS CHOICES
The UNHCR has been struggling with funding cuts for years, but the current cuts are “much more rapid and sizeable” and uncertainty prevails, said Freijsen.

“A lot of other questions are still to be answered, like, what will be the priorities? What will still be funded?” Freijsen asked.

Syrian refugees and vulnerable communities in Lebanon might be forced to make risky or dangerous choices, he said.

Some may take out loans. Already about 80 percent of Syrian refugees are in debt to pay for rent, groceries and medical bills, Freijsen said. Children may also be forced to work.

“Women may be forced into commercial sex work,” he added.

Issa Idris, a 50-year-old father of three, has not received any cash assistance from UNHCR since February and has been forced to take on debt to buy food.

“They cut us off with no warning,” he said.

He now owes a total of $3,750, used to pay for food, rent and medicine, and he has no idea how he will pay it back.

He cannot work because of an injury, but his 18-year-old son sometimes finds work as a day laborer.

“We are lucky. We have someone who can work. Many do not,” he said.

Merhi too has fallen into debt. The local grocer is refusing to lend her any more money, and last month power was cut until the family paid the utility bill

She and her husband collect and sell scrap metal to buy food.

“We are adults. We can eat anything,” she said, her voice breaking. “The kids cannot. It is not their fault.”