Hezbollah supporters run riot after Nasrallah praises victory

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Independent candidate Joumana Haddad campaigned to reform personal status laws. (Reuters)
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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri criticized a new electoral law during Monday’s press conference in Beirut. (AFP)
Updated 26 June 2018
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Hezbollah supporters run riot after Nasrallah praises victory

  • Hassan Nasrallah hailed the Hezbollah's performance in the parliamentary elections a “great victory”.
  • Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he would still work with Michel Aoun, the Christian president aligned with Hezbollah, “because this alliance is achieving stability in the country.”

BEIRUT: Hezbollah supporters ran rampant through the streets of Beirut on Monday evening after the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah hailed a “great victory” in parliamentary elections.

Videos and photographs of supporters of the Iran-backed group, and Lebanon’s other main Shiite party Amal, showed motorbikes and cars parading their flags through the capital.

One image showed a Hezbollah flag attached to a statue of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005, allegedly by members of the group.

The image sparked outrage on social media. Rafiq Hariri was the father of the current Prime Minister, Saad.

In his speech, Nasrallah declared a “great political and moral victory for the resistance option that protects the sovereignty of the country.”

Supporters chanted “Beirut became Shiite” as they weaved between cars after the rally.

Results announced Monday night revealed the country’s first election in nine years is a strong victory for Hezbollah and its allies. 

The opposing coalition, led by Hariri, which has disintegrated in recent years, suffered heavy losses.

Earlier, Hariri, smarting from the bloody nose handed to his party, the Future Movement, attempted to set out his position for talks to form a government. 

He said he would still work with Michel Aoun, the Christian president aligned with Hezbollah, “because this alliance is achieving stability in the country.”

He added: “If the conditions of my nomination to head the government do not suit me, I would certainly decline.”

Hariri’s Sunni bloc won 21 seats, compared with 33 in the 2009 election, leaving him weakened but still likely to hold on to his job which, under Lebanon’s confessional system, is allocated to a Sunni.

“We were hoping to achieve a better result and a bigger bloc but the Future Movement faced a scheme to eliminate it from political life,” Hariri said. “I extend my hand to all those who want stability, the strengthening of the economy…and the improvement of the Lebanese living situation. I am unbreakable, and Lebanon can only be governed by all its components.”

Hezbollah and Amal retained their 27 seats in the 128 member parliament, according to the unofficial results. A coalition that includes the two groups and their allies won more than half of all seats.

Hariri’s forlorn press conference included the revelation that the number of Future Movement seats in Beirut had dropped from 11 to five.



The announcement of official results had been promised in the morning but was delayed for logistical reasons, sparking concern among some political forces over the increased chance of electoral fraud.

 

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The turnout was a disappointing 49 percent, down from 54 percent in 2009. Politicians failed to persuade the Lebanese people to go the ballot boxes, with many jaded by the deeply divided political forces, sects and clans that hold sway in the country, and the ineffectiveness of recent administrations in providing the basic services of government.

A preliminary reading of the results showed the Christian Lebanese Forces, which is anti-Hezbollah, had doubled its number of MPs from eight to 16, making it the party with the biggest gain in seats in the election. 

The Christian Free Patriotic Movement, the party of President Aoun, which is allied with Hezbollah, also increased the number of its seats, from 20 to 23.

The Parliament lost some veteran legislators, including Boutros Harb, Nicolas Fattouche and Ghassan Moukheiber. 

The fall of Harb, and of another politician, Faris Saeed, were considered major losses for what is left of Hariri’s March 14 coalition. 

Hezbollah lost two seats in the Baalbek-Hermel constituency.

The election also resulted in the entry to the Parliament of the president’s sons-in-laws: Gibran Basil and Shamil Roquez.

Of the 62 new MPs expected to enter parliament, 12 were Sunni, nine Shiite and 19 Maronite.

The election also marked the return to Parliament of supporters of the Syrian regime, raising concerns that with Bashar Assad’s position in Damascus now more secure, his government would revert to trying to influence the administration in Lebanon.

The number of elected women increased from four to six, including, for the first time, one from the Shiite community.

On Sunday night, Beirut’s streets experienced two waves of violence as dozens of motorbikes drove through the streets flying Amal and Hezbollah banners. Supporters shouted abusive chants against senior Beirut figures. They also tore up pictures of President Hariri in some areas.

Shooting incidents were also reported in areas popular with supporters of the Future Movement and of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects.

A young man was killed in Akkar in northern Lebanon by stray bullets fired in the air in celebration. A woman was also hit by a stray bullet in Zgharta.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Fuchs congratulated the Lebanese “for their performance of the national duty during the parliamentary elections.”

Iranian state television quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying: “Tehran respects the Lebanese people’s choices in the parliamentary elections and we are ready to work with the government elected by the majority.”

And in a sign that Hezbollah’s strengthened position could raise tensions between powers in the region, Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said: “The gains of Hezbollah show that there is no difference between the state and the Shiite group backed by Iran. Israel should not differentiate between them in any future war.”

On Monday evening, supporters of an independent candidate forecast to win a seat gathered outside the Interior Ministry to protest what they said were clear signs of fraud to deny her victory. 

Joumana Haddad, a novelist and candidate on the independent Kulna Watani list was forecast to win but TV channels stopped reporting her victory on Monday, AP reported.


Lebanon to extradite son of late Muslim cleric Al-Qaradawi to UAE, PM’s office says

Updated 57 min 26 sec ago
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Lebanon to extradite son of late Muslim cleric Al-Qaradawi to UAE, PM’s office says

  • The UAE and Egypt have both filed requests for his extradition

CAIRO: Lebanon is set to extradite the son of late senior Muslim cleric Youssef Al-Qaradawi to the United Arab Emirates after the country’s caretaker cabinet approved the move on Tuesday, the Lebanese prime minister’s office said.
Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-Turkish poet, was detained in Lebanon on Dec. 28 after returning from Syria, according to his lawyer Mohammad Sablouh and human rights group Amnesty International.
Youssef was stopped by Lebanese authorities on the basis of an Egyptian court ruling against him that dates back to 2016.
The arrest was made based on an Interpol notice issued by the Arab Interior Ministers Council based on the 2016 court ruling to imprison Youssef for three years on charges of spreading false news.
The UAE and Egypt have both filed requests for his extradition.
Qaradawi’s lawyer said he would file an urgent appeal to block his extradition on Wednesday morning but feared his client might be flown out of the country before then.


UN calls for $370m in new humanitarian aid for Lebanon

Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, attends an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon October 3, 2024.
Updated 08 January 2025
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UN calls for $370m in new humanitarian aid for Lebanon

  • Following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza, Israel in September stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The United Nations joined the Lebanese government on Tuesday to appeal for an additional $371.4 million in humanitarian aid for people displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The extension builds on an initial aid appeal for $426 million launched in October, as all-out war flared between the two sides and sent hundreds of thousands in Lebanon fleeing their homes.
That appeal raised approximately $250 million, according to the UN.
Following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza, Israel in September stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon.
After two months of warring, in which Hezbollah’s influential chief Hassan Nasrallah and multiple other leaders were killed, a ceasefire deal was reached that went into effect in late November.
“While the cessation of hostilities offers hope, over 125,000 people remain displaced, and hundreds of thousands more face immense challenges rebuilding their lives,” Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, said in a statement Tuesday.
The additional funding “is urgently required to sustain life-saving efforts and prevent further deterioration of an already dire situation,” he added.
The appeal is primarily aimed to assist an estimated one million Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian refugees affected by the conflict, funding a three-month period of emergency efforts through March 2025.
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon began on November 27, more than 800,000 displaced people in Lebanon have been able to return home, according to UN figures.
 

 


Qatar and Turkiye dispatch two power ships to generate electricity for Syria

Updated 08 January 2025
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Qatar and Turkiye dispatch two power ships to generate electricity for Syria

  • The vessels, which have power plants installed, are expected to increase the amount of electricity generated in the country by about 50 percent
  • Syria’s energy infrastructure was badly damaged during the decade-long civil war, with most areas receiving power for only two or three hours a day

LONDON: Qatar and Turkiye sent two power-generating ships to Syria on Tuesday to help address the energy crisis in the country caused by insufficient electricity supplies.

Khaled Abu Di, the director of Syria’s Public Establishment for Transmission and Distribution of Electricity, said the floating power plants are capable of generating a total of 800 megawatts a day, which would increase the amount of electricity generated in the country by about 50 percent, state news agency SANA reported.

Syria’s energy infrastructure was badly damaged during more than a decade of civil war in the country that culminated in the fall of the ruling Assad regime in December. The deterioration resulted in severe power shortages, with many areas receiving electricity for only two or three hours a day.

Abu Di said efforts are underway to secure transmission lines to deliver the electricity generated by the ships. He added that his team is also working to repair dozens of damaged conversion plants and connection lines to get the national grid up and running again.


How Israeli law permitting child detention imperils the rights of Palestinian minors

Updated 08 January 2025
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How Israeli law permitting child detention imperils the rights of Palestinian minors

  • Under legislation passed in November by the Knesset, Israeli authorities are permitted to imprison Palestinians under the age of 14
  • Rights monitors say Israel has detained some 460 children since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack triggered the Gaza war

DUBAI: Frightened, alone, and often injured during arrest, Palestinian children routinely find themselves vulnerable to abuses and deprived of basic rights after they are taken into Israeli custody, according to human rights monitors.

Under legislation passed in November by the Knesset, Israeli authorities are now permitted to detain Palestinians under the age of 14 — a measure that rights groups claim is motivated by revenge rather than security needs.

The bill, proposed by a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and approved by 53-33 votes, allows judges to sentence minors between the ages of 12 and 14 to prison terms if convicted of terrorist murder, manslaughter, or attempted murder.

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces during a raid at the Balata camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on November 23, 2023. (AFP)

According to the law, which was passed as a temporary measure lasting for five years, convicted minors can be held in closed facilities until they turn 14, after which they can be transferred to regular prisons.

An identical law, which was passed in 2016 following a series of attacks carried out by teenagers and other minors, expired in 2020.

According to the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Israel imprisoned more than 460 children between the months of October 2023 and January 2024.

INNUMBERS

460

Children imprisoned by Israel between October 2023 and January 2024, according to the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

16

Israeli courts have long defined the term ‘Palestinian child’ as a person under the age of 16, rather than the internationally recognized age of 18.

The Israeli parliament also passed a law in November that allows for the deportation of the family members of those convicted of attacks on Israeli citizens.

Furthermore, it allows for the deportation of the family members of those who had advance knowledge and either failed to report the matter to the police or “expressed support or identification with an act of terrorism.”

Under legislation passed in November by the Knesset, Israeli authorities are now permitted to imprison Palestinians under the age of 14. (AFP file/Getty Images)

Relatives of those who published “praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organization” can also be deported.

“This is a historic and important day for all citizens of Israel,” Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, said in a statement welcoming the bill, which he said “sends a clear message the State of Israel will not allow the families of the terrorists to continue enjoying life as if nothing had happened.

“From today onwards, every father, mother, child, brother, sister or spouse who identifies with and supports their family member who harmed the citizens of Israel will be deported.”

The abuse of Palestinian children in military detention was a child protection crisis before Oct. 7, and it has only become worse, says Jason Lee, Save the Children.

Both Israel’s Justice Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office raised concerns about the legislation, which stipulates that those being expelled would be sent to Gaza or other destinations for 7-15 years for citizens or 10-20 years for legal residents.

Some opposition members of the Knesset suggested at the time that the legislation is targeted specifically at Palestinian citizens of Israel, saying the law is unlikely to apply to Jewish Israelis convicted of terrorism offenses.

Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations have branded both new laws unconstitutional.

Israeli policemen detain a Palestinian boy in the east Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Issawiya on May 15, 2012, during protests to mark Nakba day. (AFP)

Hadeel Abu Salih, an attorney working for Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, sent a letter to the Israeli parliament claiming the legislation was motivated by revenge and retribution.

Abu Salih also said the legislation contradicts the principles of Israel’s Youth Law, which stresses rehabilitation over punitive measures for minors.

The Legal Center released a statement saying that “through these laws, Israel further entrenches its two-tiered legal system, with one set of laws for Jewish Israelis under criminal law and another, with inferior rights, for Palestinians under the pretext of counterterrorism.

An Israeli soldier controls a Palestinian boy during clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters following a march against Palestinian land confiscation to expand the nearby Jewish Hallamish settlement on August 28, 2015 in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah. (AFP)

“By embedding apartheid-like policies into the law, the Knesset further institutionalized systematic oppression, in contravention of both international law and basic human and constitutional rights.”

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war, Israeli forces have significantly increased the rate of arrests of Palestinian children, both in Gaza and the West Bank.

Between October and November 2023 alone, 254 minors were reportedly arrested by Israeli forces. Some of these detainees have since been released.

Israeli security forces scuffle with a Palestinian boy outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's old city during a demonstration on December 26, 2015. (AFP)

The bulk of the arrest operations appear to take place in towns, camps, and other areas with points of contact with Israeli checkpoints. Although the precise charges leveled against these minors are unknown, the most common offense is throwing stones.

In some cases, rights monitors say children under the age of 10 are taken in order to pressure their relatives to surrender themselves to Israeli authorities.

Palestinian children released from Israeli detention often describe traumatic experiences, recounting harsh measures enforced by guards and the prison administration, including allegations of physical and psychological torture during interrogation.

Nael al-Atrash, eleven-years-old, is blind folded and hand cuffed by Israeli soldiers who raided the neighborhood of Jabal al-Takruri in the West Bank town of Hebron 08 March 2006. (AFP)

Testimonies shared with Save the Children include severe beatings in the presence of their relatives, being shot at, having their legs restrained, and being blindfolded during transfers between detention centers.

Several claim that food and water were also withheld for long periods of time as a form of punishment. Some have even alleged sexual abuse. Monitors say minors are routinely denied their right to legal aid and at times the presence of a family member during their interrogations.

As a result of these abuses, minors are allegedly coerced into signing false confessions and into signing documents without understanding their content. Children are also rarely granted bail before standing trial.

The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society have expressed concern about the ongoing detention of children and the alleged abuses.

Both say the behavior of Israeli prison administrations and conditions inside overcrowded facilities have become worse since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Monitors say the detention centers holding minors do not meet the minimum humanitarian standards. A large number of detained children are reportedly sharing cells and are deprived of an education, medical assistance, and personal items such as books and clothing.

Israeli courts have long defined the term “Palestinian child” as a person under the age of 16, rather than the internationally recognized age of 18 as defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Israeli authorities have previously denied the maltreatment of detainees.

Responding to separate claims by the UN in March last year about the alleged mistreatment of adults captured in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces told the BBC: “The mistreatment of detainees during their time in detention or whilst under interrogation violates IDF values and contravenes IDF and is therefore absolutely prohibited.”

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for Palestine, accused the international community of failing to address the detention of Palestinian children, saying minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point.”

On World Children’s Day, marked by the UN on Nov. 20, the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs released a statement saying that around 270 Palestinian children were being held in Israeli jails.

“The occupation continues to detain no less than 270 children, who are mainly held in Ofer and Megiddo prisons, in addition to camps established by the occupation army after the Gaza war,” the commission said.

“Systematic crimes are being committed by the prison administration against the jailed children, in addition to beatings, torture, and daily abuses.”

According to Palestinian rights monitors, more than 11,700 people from the West Bank have been detained since October 2023. This does not include those from the Gaza Strip, where the number of arrests is thought to be far higher.

Similarly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority urged the international community on World Children’s Day to pressure Israel to honor its commitments to global treaties, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It stressed the need to ensure Palestinian children are not excluded from international charters that call for special protections for children against violence and detention.

The ministry also condemned the law undertaken by the Knesset to detain children under the age of 14 years, calling it a dangerous escalation that further undermines Palestinian children’s rights.

Despite international and local human rights organizations calling for the abolition of the Knesset’s child detention laws, the Israeli government insists the law will remain in place for the next five years.

 


Germany pushing for EU to relax sanctions on Syria, sources say

Updated 08 January 2025
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Germany pushing for EU to relax sanctions on Syria, sources say

  • This requires an unanimous EU decision
  • Germany’s foreign ministry declined to comment

BERLIN: Germany is leading European Union discussions on easing sanctions imposed on the Syrian government of toppled President Bashar Assad and aiding the country’s population, foreign ministry sources said on Tuesday.
“We are actively discussing ways to provide sanctions relief to the Syrian people in certain sectors,” one of the sources said. This requires an unanimous EU decision.
Germany’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
A lightning rebel offensive overthrew Assad on Dec. 8 and Islamist rebels Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which led the advance, set up a caretaker government.
The US on Monday issued a six-month sanctions exemption for transactions with some government bodies to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance, address Syria’s power shortages and allow personal remittances.
The EU, United States, Britain and other governments imposed tough sanctions on Syria after Assad’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011 spiraled into civil war.
HTS has renounced its ties with Al Qaeda but is still designated a terrorist entity by the United Nations and US
German officials first circulated thoughts on easing sanctions on Syria in documents sent to Brussels before Christmas.
The FT first reported on Tuesday that the documents outline how the EU could gradually ease restrictions on Damascus in return for progress on social issues, including safeguarding minority and women’s rights and upholding commitments to ensuring non-proliferation of weapons.
The FT, citing an unnamed source familiar with the EU discussions, added that, like Washington, the bloc could make any easing of sanctions temporary to ensure that it could be reversed if necessary.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday traveled to Syria for a one-day trip with her French counterpart on behalf of the EU and met with HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
Baerbock said during her visit that all Syrian groups including women and Kurds must be involved in the country’s transition if Damascus wants European support.