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Lebanon forms government after 13 months

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Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati attends Friday prayers before meeting with Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, at a mosque in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2021. (Reuters)
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Lebanese President Michel Aoun, left, meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, July 26, 2021. (AP Photo)
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Updated 10 September 2021
NAJIA HOUSSARI
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Lebanon forms government after 13 months

  • PM Mikati tells nation to ‘fasten seatbelts for emergency landing’
  • The breakthrough followed intense pressure exerted by the French
Updated 10 September 2021
NAJIA HOUSSARI

BEIRUT: Lebanese leaders on Friday agreed to form a 24-minister government led by Najib Mikati after a 13-month vacuum.

The breakthrough followed intense pressure exerted by the French on Thursday night while consulting with the Iranian and US sides.

Mikati said: “We are now on a plane making an emergency landing. Everyone must fasten their seatbelts and hope that we can soon change the course of this plane. The situation is difficult and our money has dried up, and there is no money for us to keep subsidies.

“Let’s put politics aside and work for the people. No one will disrupt our work and whoever wants to do so can see themselves out. We have a lot of work to do. Let us raise the morale of the people; a gentle word can be merciful.”

Mikati wept in front of the journalists, saying: “The situation is difficult. We will work with hope and determination and will contact all international bodies to secure the basic life necessities. We are here to serve the country as a whole; not one group without the other. I will knock on the doors of Arab countries because we need to rebuild the burned bridges. Lebanon belongs to this Arab world.

“I hope we can put an end to the current collapse, address the people’s demands and bring prosperity back to Lebanon. The government is made up of experts with political affiliations. We have a deadline until the May elections to accomplish our mission.”

Mikati said that the former prime ministers gave him their confidence. “I work under the umbrella of the Taif Agreement, and what they care about the most is forming a government.”

Asked whether the government would hold parliamentary elections, Mikati said: “I most certainly pledge to hold the elections on time, on May 8, as well as the municipal elections.”

Addressing the possibility of the government communicating with Syria, Mikati said: “This government is here to serve Lebanon’s best interests; we will communicate with anyone except Israel.”

Immediately after the government was announced, the Lebanese pound exchange rate dropped to less than 15,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar on the black market. On Friday morning, it was trading at 18,400 Lebanese pounds to the dollar.  

A well-informed source told Arab News: “Several factors have accelerated forming the government. Among them is the change taking place in the region and the international community’s insistence on preventing a total collapse in Lebanon. The internal factor was Mikati’s behavior and how he managed to round the edges throughout the whole process.

“The international community has exerted so much pressure because a government needs to be formed in order for it to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund and donor countries.”

The source said: “Given the French pressure, a government was supposed to be formed on Sept. 5. Yet, some Lebanese leaders tried to buy some time to insist on certain demands, but the pressures increased and they understood that they were now forced to form the government.”

“We’re still not clear on the assurances President Michel Aoun got to finally agree after insisting on obtaining the blocking third in the government. But this will be discussed later on, not today.”

Mikati headed to the Baabda Palace after performing Friday prayers at the Al-Omari Mosque in downtown Beirut and waved the government formation paper at journalists as he walked in, indicating that the mission had been accomplished. 

The 19th meeting was held between Mikati and Aoun, and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri joined them half an hour later.

The obstacles impeding the formation process remained unresolved until the last 15 minutes but were eventually removed. Those obstacles were related to the Ministry of Economy and naming the two Christian ministers; it was agreed that they would be from outside the parties’ share and approved by both Aoun and Mikati.

After the meeting, Berri said: “Very good work.”

Mikati’s government is the first of its kind in Lebanon. It includes four judges and only one woman, while the previous government included six female ministers.

The judges are Abbas Al-Halabi for the Ministry of Education, affiliated with the head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt; Henry Khoury for the Ministry of Justice, former State Shoura Council head and close to Aoun; Bassam Al-Mawlawi for the Ministry of Interior, former head of the Criminal Court in the North, affiliated with Mikati; and Mohammed Mortada for the Ministry of Culture, affiliated with Hezbollah.

Senior central bank official Youssef Khalil took over the Ministry of Finance and former ambassador to the US Abdallah Bouhabib took charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Firas Abiad, director of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, affiliated with former PM Saad Hariri, was named health minister. 

Nasser Yassin, AUB professor of policy and planning, was named environment minister.

Amin Salam, affiliated with Mikati, was named economy minister.

Saade Shami was named deputy premier and is affiliated with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, an ally of Hezbollah. 

Maurice Slim was named defense minister, Najla Riachi state minister for administrative reform, Jonny Korm communications minister, and Walid Nassar tourism minister.

The Ministry of Energy was given to Walid Fayyad, affiliated to Aoun, the Ministry of Labor to Mustafa Bayram, the Ministry of Agriculture to Abbas Hajj Hassan, and the Ministry of Works to Ali Hamiya.

George Kordahi was assigned the Ministry of Information, George Debakian the Ministry of Industry, and Hector Hajjar the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Topics: Lebanon Najib Mikati Nabih Berri Michel Aoun

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Large Gaza food convoy violently looted, UNRWA says

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GENEVA: A convoy of 109 trucks was violently looted on Nov. 16 after crossing into Gaza, resulting in the loss of 98 trucks, an UNRWA aid official told Reuters on Monday.
The convoy carrying food provided by UN agencies UNRWA and the World Food Programme was instructed by Israel to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route from Kerem Shalom crossing, Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer told Reuters.
“This incident highlights the severity of access challenges of bringing aid into southern and central Gaza,” she said.

Majority of South Sudanese will be food insecure next year: UN

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Majority of South Sudanese will be food insecure next year: UN

  • Almost 7.7 million people will be classed as acutely food insecure, according to the IPC, an increase from 7.1 million people the previous lean season
  • More than 85 percent of returnees fleeing the war in Sudan will be acutely food insecure from the next lean season in April
Updated 16 min 32 sec ago
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Juba: Almost 60 percent of South Sudan’s population will be acutely food insecure next year, with more than two million children at risk of malnutrition, data from a United Nations-backed review warned on Monday.
The world’s youngest country is among the globe’s poorest and is grappling with its worst flooding in decades as well as a massive influx of refugees fleeing the war in Sudan to the north.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review estimated that 57 percent of the population would be suffering from acute food insecurity from April.
The United Nations defines acute food insecurity as when a “person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.”
Almost 7.7 million people will be classed as acutely food insecure, according to the IPC, an increase from 7.1 million people the previous lean season.
“Year after year we see hunger reaching some of the highest levels we’ve seen in South Sudan,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in South Sudan.
“When we look at the areas with the highest levels of food insecurity, it’s clear that a cocktail of despair — conflict and the climate crisis — are the main drivers,” she said.
More than 85 percent of returnees fleeing the war in Sudan will be acutely food insecure from the next lean season in April.
The data also found that 2.1 million children are at risk of malnutrition, compounded by a lack of safe drinking water and sanitation.
“Malnutrition is the end result of a series of crises,” said Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF’s representative in South Sudan, adding the agency was “deeply concerned” that the numbers would increase if aid was not stepped up.
In October, the World Bank warned widespread flooding was “worsening an already critical humanitarian situation.”
The UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, said earlier this month that 1.4 million people had been impacted by the flooding, which had displaced almost 380,000.
Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, the world’s youngest nation has remained plagued by chronic instability, violence and economic stagnation as well as climate disasters such as drought and floods.
The country also faces another period of political paralysis after the presidency delayed elections by two years to December 2026, exasperating international partners.
South Sudan boasts plentiful oil resources but the vital source of revenue was decimated in February when an export pipeline was damaged in neighboring war-torn Sudan.

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Israeli strikes kill 18 Palestinians in Gaza, some in attacks on tents, say medics

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Israeli strikes kill 18 Palestinians in Gaza, some in attacks on tents, say medics

  • Israeli military targets include tents housing displaced families, say medics
  • Victims were ‘ripped apart into fragments’, says survivor
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CAIRO: Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed 18 Palestinians on Monday, including six people who were killed in attacks on tents housing displaced families, medics said.
Four people, two of them children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent encampment in the coastal area of Al-Mawasi, designated as a humanitarian zone, while two were killed in temporary shelters in the southern city of Rafah and another in drone fire, health officials said.
In Beit Lahiya town in northern Gaza, medics said an Israeli missile struck a house, killing at least two people and wounding several others. On Sunday, medics and residents said dozens of people were killed or wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a multi-floor residential building in the town.
The Israeli military, which has been fighting Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza since October 2023, said it conducted strikes on “terrorist targets,” in Beit Lahiya.
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City killed five people and wounded 10 others, medics said. Later on Monday, an Israeli air strike killed four people in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, they added.
There has been no Israeli comment on Monday’s incidents.
In Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, relatives of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on tents housing displaced families sat beside bodies wrapped in blankets and white shrouds to pay farewell before walking them to graves.
“My brother wasn’t the only one; many others have been martyred in this brutal way — children torn to pieces, civilians shredded. They weren’t carrying weapons or even know ‘the resistance’, yet they were ripped apart into fragments,” said Mohammed Aboul Hassan, who lost his brother in the attack.
“We remain steadfast, patient, and resilient, and by the will of God, we will never falter. We will stay steadfast and patient,” he told Reuters.
The Israeli army sent tanks and soldiers into Beit Lahiya and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, early last month in what it said was a campaign to fight Hamas militants waging attacks and prevent them from regrouping.
Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, said the hospital was under siege by Israeli forces and the World Health Organization had been unable to deliver supplies of food, medicine and surgical equipment.
Cases of malnutrition among children were increasing, he said, and the hospital was operating at a minimal level.
“We receive daily distress calls, but we are unable to assist them due to the lack of ambulances, and the situation is catastrophic,” he said. “Yesterday, I received a distress call from women and children trapped under the rubble, and due to my inability to help them, they are now among the martyrs (dead).”
Israel said it had killed hundreds of militants in the three northern areas, which residents said was cut off from Gaza City, making it difficult and dangerous for them to flee. The armed wings of Hamas and militant group Islamic Jihad said they have killed many Israeli soldiers in anti-tank rocket and mortar fire attacks during the same period.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 43,800 people have been confirmed killed since the war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in attacks on communities in southern Israel that day, and hold dozens of some 250 hostages they took back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

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Hamas political office has not moved to Turkiye from Qatar, Turkish source says

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ANKARA: A Turkish diplomatic source dismissed on Monday reports that Hamas had moved its political office to Turkiye from Qatar, adding that members of the Palestinian militant group only occasionally visited the country.
Doha said last week it had told Hamas and Israel it will stall efforts to mediate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until they show willingness and seriousness. It also said that media reports that it had told Hamas to leave the country were no accurate.
NATO member Turkiye has fiercely criticized Israel over its offensives in Gaza and in Lebanon and does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Some Hamas political officials regularly visit Turkiye.
“Hamas Political Bureau members visit Turkiye from time to time. Claims that indicate the Hamas Political Bureau has moved to Turkiye do not reflect the truth,” the diplomatic source said.

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Schools closed in Beirut after deadly Israeli strike

Updated 18 November 2024
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Schools closed in Beirut after deadly Israeli strike

  • Sunday’s strikes hit densely populated districts of central Beirut
  • Six people were killed in the strikes
Updated 18 November 2024
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BEIRUT: Schools in Beirut were closed on Monday after Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital killed six people including Hezbollah’s spokesman, the latest in a string of top militant targets slain in the war.
Israel escalated its bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds in late September, vowing to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow Israelis displaced by cross-border fire to return home.
Sunday’s strikes hit densely populated districts of central Beirut that had so far been spared the violence engulfing other areas of Lebanon.
Six people were killed in the strikes, according to Lebanese health ministry figures, including Hezbollah media relations chief Mohammed Afif, the group and Israel’s military said.
The strikes prompted the education ministry to shut schools and higher education institutions in the Beirut area for two days.
Children and young people around Lebanon have been heavily impacted by the war, which has seen schools around the country turned into shelters for the displaced.
Israel widened the focus of its war from Gaza to Lebanon in late September, nearly a year into the conflict in Gaza that was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
In support of its Palestinian ally, Hezbollah launched low-intensity strikes on Israel after the attack, forcing about 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes.
With Hamas weakened but not crushed, Israel escalated its battle against Hezbollah, vowing to fight until victory.
Lebanese authorities say more than 3,480 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.
Israel says 48 soldiers have been killed fighting Hezbollah.
Israeli strikes have killed senior Hezbollah officials including its leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September.
The group’s spokesman Afif was part of Nasrallah’s inner circle, and one of the group’s few officials to engage with the press.
Another strike hit a busy shopping district of Beirut, sparking a huge blaze that engulfed part of a building and several shops nearby.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said the fire had largely been extinguished by Monday morning, noting it had caused diesel fuel tanks to explode.
It also reported new strikes early Monday on locations around south Lebanon, long a stronghold of Hezbollah.
Israel’s military told AFP it had hit more than 200 targets in Lebanon over 36 hours, including in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Hezbollah’s main bastion.
Lebanon’s military, which is not a party to the conflict, said Israel “directly targeted” an army center in south Lebanon on Sunday, killing two soldiers.
Israel’s military said about 20 projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israel, and some were intercepted.
Lebanon last week said it was reviewing a US truce proposal in the Israel-Hezbollah war, as Hamas said it was ready for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Ongoing war on Gaza
So far, however, there has been no sign of the wars abating.
The Israeli military kept up its campaign in Gaza over the weekend, where civil defense rescuers said strikes on Sunday killed dozens of people.
Vowing to stop Hamas from regrouping in northern Gaza near the border, Israel on October 6 began an air and ground operation in Jabalia and then expanded it to Beit Lahia.
On Sunday, Gaza’s civil defense agency said 34 people were killed, including children, and dozens were missing after an Israeli air strike hit a five-story residential building in Beit Lahia.
“The chances of rescuing more wounded are decreasing because of the continuous shooting and artillery shelling,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
Weighed down with backpacks, many like Omar Abdel Aal were fleeing, often on foot, through dusty streets.
“They bombarded the houses and completely destroyed Beit Lahia,” he said.
Israel’s military said there were “ongoing terrorist activities in the area of Beit Lahia” and several strikes were directed at militant targets there.
“We emphasize that there have been continuous efforts to evacuate the civilian population from the active war zone in the area,” the military said.
The United Nations and others have condemned humanitarian conditions in northern Gaza, with the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees last week calling the situation “catastrophic.”
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Sunday said the overall death toll in more than 13 months of war had reached 43,846, a majority civilians, figures that the United Nations consider reliable.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

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