Beirut: Participation in Lebanon’s election on Sunday appeared low, as parties struggled to persuade people to go to the polls despite a new voting system designed to improve representation.
But the turnout varied dramatically between districts. There were low rates in Beirut 1, where there is a Christian majority, with no more than 19 percent by the afternoon, but people voted in larger numbers in places with Sunni majorities, such as Saida (almost 50 percent) and Beirut 2 (above 33 percent).
In Baalbek-Hermel, which is predominantly Shiite, officials had to request more ballot boxes because so many voters turned up.
The varying turnout reflected the tough competition between the two main parties dominating Lebanese politics: the Future Movement of Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and Hezbollah, the Shiite militant and political organization backed by Iran.
The new complex voting system based on proportional representation also presented problems.
Candidates and parties complained of the slow voting process caused by the new method, which the voters were struggling to get used to.
This led to the formation of long queues and some even giving up and going home rather than wait several hours to cast their ballots. Others decided to postpone voting until later in the day.
Three pens with embedded cameras were seized with voters in the Bekaa — in Zahle, Buarij, and Kafar Zabad.
Brig. Gen. Elias Khoury, secretary of the Central Security Council, said 52 violations were recorded.
“These included voters recording their voting processes behind the partition — a prohibited act that cancels the voter’s ballot,” he said.
Voter turnout was slow in the morning in the main cities but in the villages and towns of the provinces, voter enthusiasm exceeded expectations.
Yahya Shams, head of the “Dignity and Development” list in Baalbek-Hermel, which was competing against the Shiite alliance’s list, said that recorded violations included using vehicles to block the roads and preventing voters from reaching voting centers.
“Hezbollah supporters also rallied around the voting centers in an attempt to intimidate voters,” he added, stressing that he had made a complaint about the violations.
In the south, anti-Hezbollah candidate Ali Al-Amin said there had been attempts to prevent his supporters from entering the voting centers.
Al-Amin was treated in hospital after he was attacked by Hezbollah supporters last month during campaigning.
The elections were held amid intense security measures taken by the army and the internal security forces. Specialist patrols watch deployed in Beirut and other areas to try to ensure bitter rivalries did not cause violence.
Cars flaunting Hezbollah and Amal Movement flags were seen carrying voters from Beirut’s southern suburbs to the city center.
Hariri waited his turn with voters at a polling station in Beirut before casting his ballot in front of throngs of photographers.
“Order is good,” he said as he left the voting center.
“I did my duty and voted like any other Lebanese citizens. As we look around us and see that Lebanon is holding democratic elections, we know that the country is in good shape.”
Some voters told Arab News how they were prompted to take part in the election by the unruly behavior of some of the party supporters.
Manal, a young woman from Beirut, said a group of Hezbollah supporters roamed the streets near her home the night before, shooting in the air.
“I did not wish to vote, but what happened prompted me and my brother to go to a voting center and elect the Future Movement’s list,” she said.
Low turnout and high stakes as battles play out across Lebanon
Low turnout and high stakes as battles play out across Lebanon
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Militia detains 300 migrants in the desert in Libya’s effort to contain sea crossings
The apprehensions come as Libya remains a primary point of departure for men, women and children from the Middle East and Africa aiming to reach Europe
TRIPOLI: Libyan military officials said Monday they apprehended hundreds of migrants traversing the country’s vast desert hoping to ultimately cross the Mediterranean Sea in pursuit of a better life in Europe.
The 444 Brigade, a powerful militia group that operates under the auspices of the Libyan army, said in a statement that its patrolling commanders detained more than 300 migrants and referred them to authorities.
The group in a post on Facebook condemned smuggling and human trafficking and said its patrols would continue efforts to block smuggling routes. It posted satellite images of the desert and pictures of what appeared to be migrants sitting in rows in front of armed and masked militants.
The apprehensions come as Libya remains a primary point of departure for men, women and children from the Middle East and Africa aiming to reach Europe. Many are escaping war or poverty and many employ smugglers to help them negotiate treacherous deserts and sea routes. Roughly 38,000 people have arrived in Italy and Malta from Libya this year, according to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency.
The overcrowded boats used by migrants and smugglers are known to routinely capsize and a key priority for European leaders has been to encourage North African countries to prevent migrants from reaching the sea. But unlike in Morocco and Tunisia — where tens of thousands of migrants also attempt to pass through en route to the southern shores of Europe — fighting between rival governments in Libya has added additional challenges to migration management partnerships.
Migrant apprehensions are rarely reported in Libya, though the country’s state news service LANA reported more than 2,000 arrests in July.
The oil-rich country plunged into turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Since then, the country has been divided between dueling governments in the east and west, each backed by militias and foreign powers. Human traffickers have for years benefited from the political chaos.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in July said migrants in the country had been subjected to torture, forced labor and starvation while being detained.
Major food aid ‘scale-up’ underway to famine-hit Sudan, WFP says
- “In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month,” said WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli
- The WFP fleet will be clearly labelled in the hope that access will be facilitated
GENEVA: More than 700 trucks are on their way to famine-stricken areas of Sudan as part of a major scale-up after clearance came through from the Sudanese government, a World Food Programme spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict since April 2023 that has caused acute hunger and disease across the country. Both sides are accused of impeding aid deliveries, the RSF by looting and the army by bureaucratic delays.
“In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month,” WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli told a press briefing in Geneva.
“We’ve received around 700 clearances from the government in Sudan, from the Humanitarian Aid Commission, to start to move and transport assistance to some of these hard-to-reach areas,” she added, saying the start of the dry season was another factor enabling the scale-up.
The WFP fleet will be clearly labelled in the hope that access will be facilitated, she said.
Some of the food is intended for 14 areas of the country that face famine or are at risk of famine, including Zamzam camp in the Darfur region.
The first food arrived there on Friday prompting cheers from crowds of people who had resorted to eating crushed peanut shells normally fed to animals, Kinzli said.
A second convoy for the camp is currently about 300 km (186 miles) away, she said.
On Monday, the head of Sudan’s sovereign council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, said he would allow the airports in El Obeid, Kadugli, and Damazine — army-controlled areas isolated by the fighting — to serve as humanitarian hubs for UN agencies to facilitate deliveries.
Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs
- A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll
BEIRUT: Israeli strikes pounded a densely-populated part of the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs on Tuesday, hours ahead of an anticipated announcement of a ceasefire ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll.
Minutes later, at least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They began approximately 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for 20 locations in the area, the largest such warning yet.
As the strikes were under way, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.
Germany says Lebanon ceasefire ‘within reach’
FIUGGI, Italy: Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Tuesday that an agreement on a proposed ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was “within reach.”
“A ceasefire and steps toward a political solution along the lines of UN Resolution 1701 are within reach thanks to direct US and French mediation,” Baerbock told reporters on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy.
Prospect of Lebanon ceasefire leaves Gazans feeling abandoned
CAIRO: The prospect of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah without a similar deal with Hamas in Gaza has left Palestinians feeling abandoned and fearful that Israel will focus squarely on its onslaught in the enclave.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas after the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel in October of 2023, triggering the Gaza war.
Hostilities in Lebanon have drastically escalated in the last two months, with Israel stepping up airstrikes and sending in ground forces to Lebanon’s south and Hezbollah sustaining rocket fire on Israel.
Now Israel looks set to approve a US plan for a ceasefire with Hezbollah when its security cabinet meets on Tuesday, while Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed hope that a ceasefire would be reached by Tuesday night.
While diplomacy focuses on Lebanon, Palestinians feel let down by the world after 14 months of conflict which has devastated the Gaza Strip and killed more than 44,000 people. “It showed Gaza is an orphan, with no support and no mercy from the unjust world,” said Abdel-Ghani, a father of five who only gave a first name.
“I am angry against the world that has failed to bring one solution to the two regions,” Abdel-Ghani. “Maybe, there will be another deal for Gaza, maybe.”
An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire without a deal for Gaza would be a blow to Hamas, whose leaders had hoped the expansion of the war into Lebanon would pressure Israel to reach a comprehensive ceasefire. Hezbollah had insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
“We had high hopes that Hezbollah would remain steadfast until the end but it seems they couldn’t,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman, who like most Gazans has been displaced from his home. “We are afraid the Israeli army will now have a free hand in Gaza.”
While a Lebanon deal could leave some Hezbollah commanders in place after Israel killed the heavily armed group’s veteran leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his successor, Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas completely.
“We hoped the expansion of the war meant one solution for all, but we were left alone in the face of the monstrous (Israeli) occupation,” said Zakeya Rezik, 56, a mother of six.
“Enough is enough, we are exhausted. How many more had to die before they stopped the war? Gaza war must stop, the people are being wiped out, starved, and bombed every day.”
