BEIRUT: Lebanon on Tuesday condemned smuggling operations and “all that undermines the security and stability of the Kingdom and the safety of its people.”
Saudi Arabia banned the import of agricultural products from Lebanon after authorities seized a narcotic-stuffed pomegranate shipment in Dammam.
Lebanon’s Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy has been tasked with updating the Saudi side on the measures being taken to tackle smuggling. He called Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and said: “Lebanon condemns the smuggling operation and all that undermines the security and stability of the Kingdom and the safety of its people.”
President Michel Aoun led a high-level meeting in Beirut to deal with the ban’s fallout and address the country’s smuggling problem.
But the statement issued afterwards was criticized for ignoring the smuggling from Syria and the smuggling that took place through legitimate crossings, some of which, it was said, were run by Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Economic Organizations, chaired by former minister Mohamed Choucair, warned that the state and all its institutions were “at stake.” They criticized the methods adopted by the authorities to face challenges, “especially the announcement of flamboyant positions” that no longer had any value on a domestic or international level.
They hoped the recommendations made during the meeting would lead to practical measures on combating drugs and dealers, controlling legal crossings, and closing illegal crossings.
“Then, the state can protect its reputation, dignity, economy, and foreign relations, especially with sister countries.” They feared that “indolence” in seriously addressing the crisis would allow criminals to further “defy the state” and persist with their conduct.
They called for security crackdowns, pursuing drug dealers and smugglers, prosecuting those involved in drugs, assigning the army and security services to prevent smuggling on the border between Lebanon and Syria, controlling ports, developing a list of exporters with a good reputation, and equipping ports and border crossings with scanners.
Naim Khalil, who leads the Syndicate of Fruit and Vegetable Exporters and Importers, said: “We have been working with Saudi Arabia for 40 years without any harassment.”
He demanded the provision of “sophisticated scanners, police dogs, and strong personnel whose eyes are open to the harbor, as things are now out of control.”
Ibrahim Tarshishi, head of the Bekaa Farmers’ Association, repeated that there were 40 trucks loaded with Lebanese products scattered between the port of Jeddah, the port of Beirut, and the Syrian-Lebanese borders.
He demanded sifting through exporters and giving priority to well-known companies. “As for the companies that entered the market recently, they have neither bank balances nor a commercial registration. We also hope that the certificate of origin is verified.”
A number of farmers said that talk of the ban reducing prices was inaccurate.
The farmers hoped that “the measures would lead to stopping shell companies that export agricultural products when we do not know their owners. The Cedar Company, which was responsible for the pomegranate shipment, is one of these companies.”
Lebanon condemns ‘all that undermines’ KSA stability, security
https://arab.news/8wj3q
Lebanon condemns ‘all that undermines’ KSA stability, security
- Saudi Arabia banned the import of agricultural products from Lebanon after authorities seized a narcotic-stuffed pomegranate shipment in Dammam
UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza
- The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis in the territory
- Intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The UN on Wednesday condemned a US-backed aid system in Gaza after 47 people were injured during a chaotic food distribution, where the Israeli military said it did not open fire at crowds.
The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis coupled with intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.
According to the UN, 47 people were injured in the mayhem that erupted on Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians desperate for food rushed into a GHF aid distribution site, while a Palestinian medical source said at least one had died.
Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said most of the wounded had been hurt by gunfire, and based on the information he had, “it was shooting from the IDF” — the Israeli military.
The Israeli military rejected the accusation, with Col. Olivier Rafowicz telling AFP that Israeli soldiers “fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside” the center managed by the GHF, and “in no case toward the people.”
With the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel entering its 600th day on Wednesday, Palestinians in Gaza felt there was no reason to hope for a better future.
In Israel, the relatives of people held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 attack longed for the return of their loved ones, with hundreds gathering in their name in Tel Aviv.
“Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop,” said Bassam Daloul, 40, adding that “even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare.”
The UN has repeatedly hit out against the GHF, which faces accusations of failing to fulfil the principles of humanitarian work, and Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, on Wednesday reiterated the criticism.
“I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities. We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose,” he said during a visit in Japan.
In Gaza, the civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes killed 16 people since dawn Wednesday.
Heba Jabr, 29, who sleeps in a tent in southern Gaza with her husband and their two children, was struggling to find food.
“Dying by bombing is much better than dying from the humiliation of hunger and being unable to provide bread and water for your children,” she said.
Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week.
A medical source in southern Gaza said that after Tuesday’s stampede at the GHF site “more than 40 injured people arrived at Nasser Hospital, the majority of them wounded by Israeli gunfire,” adding that at least one had died since.
The source added that “a number of other civilians also arrived at the hospital with various bruises.”
On Tuesday, the GHF said around “8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far... totaling 462,000 meals.”
UN agencies and aid groups have argued that the GHF’s designation of so-called secure distribution sites contravenes the principle of humanity because it would force already displaced people to move again in order to stay alive.
Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive.
In Israel, hundreds of people gathered to call for a ceasefire that would allow for the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza since their 2023 attack.
Protesters gathered along the country’s roads and on the main highway running through the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv at 6:29 am, the exact time the unprecedented October 7 attack began.
Most Israeli media headlines read “600 days,” and focused on the hostage families’ struggle to get their relatives home.
Other events were planned across Israel to make the 600th day of captivity for the 57 remaining hostages still in Gaza.
Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.
Pope Leo appeals for Gaza ceasefire, laments deaths of children
- ‘The intense cries are reaching Heaven more and more from mothers and fathers,’ he said
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo appealed on Wednesday for a ceasefire in Gaza, and called on Israel and Hamas militants to “completely respect” international humanitarian law.
“In the Gaza Strip, the intense cries are reaching Heaven more and more from mothers and fathers who hold tightly to the bodies of their dead children,” the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
“To those responsible, I renew my appeal: stop the fighting,” said the pope. “Liberate all the hostages. Completely respect humanitarian law.”
Leo, elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, also appealed for an end to the war in Ukraine.
Italy demands Israel stops strikes, blasts expulsions of Gazans
- Antonion Tajani: ‘The bombings must stop, humanitarian assistance must resume as soon as possible, respect for international humanitarian law must be restored’
ROME: Italy’s foreign minister on Wednesday again urged Israel to stop its strikes on Gaza, while warning that expelling Palestinians from the territory “is not and never will be an acceptable option.”
“The legitimate reaction of the Israeli government to a terrible and senseless terrorist act has unfortunately taken on absolutely tragic and unacceptable forms, that we ask Israel to stop immediately,” Antonion Tajani told parliament, referring also to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“The bombings must stop, humanitarian assistance must resume as soon as possible, respect for international humanitarian law must be restored,” he said.
“Hamas must immediately free all the hostages which are still today in its in hands, and who have the right to return to their homes.”
Tajani also condemned US President Donald Trump’s plan for US control of Gaza and the forced displacement of the Palestinians living there.
“I want to reiterate today in this chamber with the utmost clarity – the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is not and will never be an acceptable option,” Tajani said.
“This is why we wholeheartedly support the Arab plan led by Egypt for the recovery and reconstruction of the (Gaza) Strip, which is incompatible with any hypothesis of forced displacement.”
Israel hits Houthi targets including last plane at Sanaa airport
- The strike had completely destroyed the last of the civilian planes that Yemenia Airways was operating from the airport
- Three other Yemenia Airways planes were destroyed in an attack earlier this month
JERUSALEM/ADEN: Israel said it had struck Houthi targets including the last remaining plane used by the group at Sanaa international airport, after the Yemeni militants launched missiles toward Israel a day earlier.
The General Director of Sanaa International Airport, Khaled Al-Shaief, said in a post on his X account that the strike had completely destroyed the last of the civilian planes that Yemenia Airways was operating from the airport.
The airport is the largest in Yemen and came back into service last week after temporary repairs and runway restoration following previous Israeli strikes.
It was mainly being used by UN aircraft and the plane destroyed in the latest Israeli strikes. Three other Yemenia Airways planes were destroyed in an attack earlier this month.
“This is a clear message and a direct continuation of the policy we have established: whoever fires at the State of Israel will pay a heavy price,” Israel’s defense ministry said in a statement.
The Houthis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” a regional alliance that includes Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis control territory where about 60 percent of Yemen’s population resides.
Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the group has fired at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea in what it says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones fired toward Israel have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The US also launched intensified strikes against the Houthis this year, before halting the campaign after the Houthis agreed to stop attacks on US ships.
In a statement on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that any harm directed at Israel will be met with greater force.
“But, as I have said more than once, the Houthis are only the symptom. The main driving force behind them is Iran, which is responsible for the aggression emanating from Yemen,” Netanyahu said.
At least 47 wounded, mostly by gunfire, as Palestinians crowd aid hub in Gaza
- The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people
GENEVA: A UN official says 47 Palestinians were wounded, mostly by gunfire, when crowd overran Gaza aid hub.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories, told reporters in Geneva that it appeared Israeli army fire had caused most of the injuries.
On Tuesday, crowds of Palestinians overwhelmed a new aid distribution hub set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation. The crowd broke through fences and an Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gun fire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares.
The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations.
The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and people seeking supplies.
Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli blockade pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
