Raya Al-Hassan, the Middle East’s first female interior minister, pledges to take ‘people-centric’ approach in Lebanon

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Lebanon's first female interior minister Raya Al-Hassan. (AN Photo/Tariq Keblaoui)
Updated 08 March 2019
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Raya Al-Hassan, the Middle East’s first female interior minister, pledges to take ‘people-centric’ approach in Lebanon

  • Al-Hassan spoke to Arab News in a special International Women's Day interview
  • In her new role, the minister laid down the groundwork needed to preserve freedom of speech, as well as making use of the opportunity to advocate for women’s rights issues

BEIRUT: “What, it’s been two weeks? Wait, three weeks? No!” Lebanon and the Arab world’s first woman interior minister Raya Al-Hassan exclaimed as she recalled the sunny February Friday when she was sworn in at the Ministry of Interior in Beirut.

It should come as no surprise that the minister was in disbelief at the short time that has passed, a period in which she has shaken up the system by ordering the removal of traffic-hindering roadblocks across the capital as well as reigniting the civil marriage debate, drawing protests from the conservative religious community.

“I want to make the Ministry of Interior more people-centric, more inclined to address the concerns of the Lebanese population. There has been a schism that has formed between the Lebanese and their public institutions, and that has developed into a kind of mistrust that has grown with time,” Al-Hassan told Arab News.

“I want to restore this trust, and in order to restore this trust, you have to be closer to the people and listen to their concerns and try to address the issues that are closest to their hearts,” she said.

Al-Hassan was named as interior minister by Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri in January after nine months of political deadlock left the country teetering on the edge of political and economic crisis. 

Together with three other female ministers, it is the highest-ever representation of women in the 30-seat Lebanese Cabinet.

“I like to think I can act as a role model for women who are involved in the public sector and who aspire to also assume decision-making responsibilities in the public sector and who look at me as somebody who is not a traditional politician but has been able to assume such a responsibility,” she said.

“There is always this sort of subliminal message that, as a woman, this is going to be even harder for me than a man, and I don’t think this should be the case. It’s hard, it’s a challenge but it’s the same for men as it is for women,” she added.

Headlines around the world broke the news of Al-Hassan’s appointment as the first female minister of interior, a role that has been dominated by men across the region.

Al-Hassan is already used to breaking the mold in a “boys’ club” job as she was the first woman to be selected as minister of finance in 2009.

“It wasn’t that I parachuted and fell into the minister of interior position, but I moved progressively,” she said.

After graduating from George Washington University with an MA in business administration, Al-Hassan started at the Ministry of Finance in 1992 working under Finance Minister Fouad Siniora, then moved to the prime minister’s office, where she worked on reform agendas and economic reform conferences such as Paris II and Paris III before she became the minister of finance.

In her new role, the minister laid down the groundwork needed to preserve freedom of speech, as well as making use of the opportunity to advocate for women’s rights issues.

“Sitting in the Ministry of Interior, there are a lot of files that concern women, whether it’s the right of citizenship for children of Lebanese mothers, domestic abuse violations or other rights that are awarded to women in the personal status laws,” she said.

While progress for equal opportunity for women in the region is slow, Al-Hassan is confident that objectives are being reached and more doors are being opened.

“I think if we look at the Arab world, there has been, in the last five years, good developments that also bode well for future participation of women, whether in the job market or the public sector,” she said.

Al-Hassan stressed the need to address all of these through reforms, saying that this can only be done “by opening up, diversifying economies, modernizing economies.”

Apart from having a full-time job in one of Lebanon’s top positions, Al-Hassan is a mother to three daughters.

“It’s difficult. When I address women, I always say, ‘don’t let anybody kid you that this is easy.’ Frankly, it’s not easy. As a mother, you always experience guilt that you’re not doing enough, that you’re not spending enough quality time, that maybe you’re not around when they need you, and that is difficult.

“But it’s something that every hard-working mother has to learn how to deal with,” she said.

“There is always this guilt element, but you can fall back on a good support system, so we’re lucky in the Arab world in that sense that we have a good support system, whether it’s family, whether it’s parents, whether it’s friends, even. We’re lucky and wherever I’m missing, I think through the love of other members of the family I hope I can at least try to fill some of that (absence).” 

When she’s not busy catching up on security files or taking care of her children, Al-Hassan likes to enjoy a big pot of meat-stuffed vine leaves, a delicacy from her native Tripoli.

“This is something that reminds me of my childhood, of the family gatherings. I am developing a taste for tabikh (home cooking),” she said, joking that “I used to eat fast food and stuff like that, but now I like hefty stews, Lebanese rice and vegetables, because I think this is more digestible with time.”

Finding a life balance is already difficult, but Al-Hassan is confident that as soon as she gets used to a routine, she will jump into healthy eating and a 20-minute daily workout.

“If I have to do my job well, I have to take care of myself physically,” she said.


Jordan, Spain sign partnership deal, affirm support for Palestinian state

Updated 4 sec ago
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Jordan, Spain sign partnership deal, affirm support for Palestinian state

  • King Abdullah meets King Felipe VI, Spanish PM in Madrid
  • Jordan plays vital role in supporting Palestinians, Pedro Sanchez says

LONDON: Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday witnessed the signing of a declaration to establish a strategic partnership between their countries.

The deal is designed to increase cooperation in the economic, commercial, social, cultural and defense fields. A memorandum of understanding for the agriculture sector and an extradition agreement were also signed, the Jordan News Agency reported.

During his visit to Madrid, King Abdullah also met King Felipe VI of Spain. He praised the European nation’s support for Palestinian rights, its efforts to achieve peace in the region and its commitment to ending the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip.

He emphasized the significance of Spain’s decision to recognize the Palestinian state and said Jordan was working to gain greater European support for the Arab plan aimed at rebuilding Gaza without displacing its residents.

Sanchez said Jordan had a vital role in supporting Palestinians and that the war in Gaza must end.

King Abdullah was joined for the talks by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Director of the King’s Office Alaa Batayneh and Jordan’s Ambassador to Spain Raghad Al-Saqqa.


Red Sea marine traffic up 60 percent after Houthis narrowed targets, EU commander says

Updated 05 June 2025
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Red Sea marine traffic up 60 percent after Houthis narrowed targets, EU commander says

  • Shipping traffic, which reached a low of 20-23 ships daily in August last year, is still short of an average of 72-75 ships a day, said Gryparis
  • Gryparis said he could not guarantee that merchant ships won’t be attacked

MADRID: Red Sea marine traffic has increased by 60 percent to 36-37 ships a day since August 2024, but is still short of volumes seen before Yemen’s Houthis began attacking ships in the region, according to the commander of the EU’s Aspides naval mission.

The number of merchant ships using the narrow Bab Al-Mandab strait increased after missile and drone attacks by the Houthis slowed and the US and the rebel group signed a ceasefire deal, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis said in an interview in Madrid.

But shipping traffic, which reached a low of 20-23 ships daily in August last year, is still short of an average of 72-75 ships a day seen before the Houthis began attacks in the Red Sea in November in 2023 in support of Palestinians over Israel’s war in Gaza, said Gryparis.

The mission, which was established to safeguard navigation in the strategic trade route linking the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Asia through the Suez Canal, was extended in February when it was also tasked with tracking illegal arms shipments and monitoring vessels carrying sanctioned Russian oil.

The last attack on a merchant ship took place in November 2024 and the Houthis have also narrowed their objectives, saying their targets are Israeli ships and ships that have a connection with Israel or have docked at an Israeli port, Gryparis said.

“If you have a vessel that does not correspond to this criteria... there is a huge possibility — more than 99 percent — that you’re not going to be targeted by the Houthis,” Gryparis said.

Still, Gryparis said he could not guarantee that merchant ships won’t be attacked.

Some companies have been deterred from using the route because of the mission’s lack of ships, which can cause delays of as much as a week for those seeking to be escorted through the area, he said.

He said the mission has between two and three ships operating at one time and has requested the EU provide it with 10 ships to increase its capacity for protection.

The mission has provided close protection to 476 ships, shot down 18 drones, destroyed two remote-controlled boats used to attack ships and intercepted four ballistic missiles, he said.


How many hostages are left in Gaza?

Updated 05 June 2025
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How many hostages are left in Gaza?

  • Hostages still in captivity: 56, of whom Israel believes 33 are dead

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has recovered the bodies of two hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli American Gad Haggai and Judih Weinstein — who was Israeli, American and Canadian — were killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Their remains were returned to

Israel in a special operation by the army and the Shin Bet internal security agency, Netanyahu said.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack. More than 54,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Here are details on the hostages:

Total hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023: 251

Hostages taken before the Oct. 7 attack: 4, including 2 who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015 and the bodies of 2 soldiers killed in the 2014 war

Hostages released in exchanges or other deals: 148, of whom 8 were dead

Bodies of hostages retrieved by Israeli forces: 43

Hostages rescued alive: 8

Hostages still in captivity: 56, of whom Israel believes 33 are dead. Netanyahu has said there are “doubts” about the fate of several more.

The hostages in captivity include: 5 non-Israelis ( 3 Thais, 1 Nepalese, 1 Tanzanian), of whom 3 (2 Thais and 1 Tanzanian) have been confirmed dead.

 


Egypt, Greece agree to protect status of Mount Sinai monastery, after court ruling

Updated 05 June 2025
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Egypt, Greece agree to protect status of Mount Sinai monastery, after court ruling

  • Egypt and Greece intend to move forward based on the long-standing tradition and the already established status of an emblematic monastery for its Greek Orthodox character of worship

ATHENS: Greece and Egypt have agreed to safeguard the status of one of the world’s oldest sites of Christian worship, foreign ministers of both countries said late on Wednesday, after an Egyptian court ruling last week cast uncertainty over its future.

The St. Catherine’s Monastery, at the foot of Egypt’s Mount Sinai, was founded in the 6th century and is the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its original function, says UNESCO, which has listed the area as a World Heritage site.

Revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews, the monastery is at the site where by Biblical tradition Moses received the Ten Commandments.

But last week, an Egyptian court ruling seen by Reuters ordered Orthodox monks to vacate several plots of land that the monks have used for years, including vineyards and gardens adjacent to the monastery compound, on the grounds that they were illegally sequestered, prompting a diplomatic flurry between Cairo and Athens over the site’s status.

“We agreed in the immediate future to work toward safeguarding the rights of the monastery, as well as its legal status,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said after meeting his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty in Cairo.

“Both Egypt and Greece intend to move forward based on the long-standing tradition and the already established status of an emblematic monastery for its Greek Orthodox character of worship.”

Abdelatty said that the ruling preserves the monastery’s profound spiritual value and religious standing, and confirmed that the monks would continue to have access to and use of the monastery and its religious and historical sites, according to a foreign ministry statement. With a long history of diplomatic ties, Greece and Egypt have deepened cooperation in recent years.

St. Catherine’s is a sprawling complex, and according to tradition it was built around a burning bush where God was said to have spoken to Moses as described in the Book of Exodus. Its library is one of the most extensive worldwide, containing some of the world’s earliest Christian manuscripts.


Israel PM says bodies of two hostages retrieved from Gaza

Updated 05 June 2025
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Israel PM says bodies of two hostages retrieved from Gaza

  • The bodies were of Judy Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai from Kibbutz Nir Oz

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the bodies of two Israelis killed in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack and held in Gaza had been returned to Israel.

“In a special operation by the (security agency) and the (military) in the Gaza Strip, the bodies of two of our hostages held by the murderous terrorist organization Hamas were returned to Israel: Judy Weinstein-Haggai and Gad

Haggai from Kibbutz Nir Oz, may their memory be blessed,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Judy and Gad were murdered on October 7 and abducted to the Gaza Strip,” he added.