BEIRUT: France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne on Thursday expressed appreciation for Lebanon’s “self-restraint in this difficult period” in the region.
Sejourne reiterated that France “supports Lebanon amid the concerning situation.”
He stressed that France was keen on extending UNIFIL’s mandate during the UN Security Council’s session at the end of this month for another 12 months.
Sejourne arrived in Beirut for a short visit to Lebanon that lasted several hours.
His trip to the region includes Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.
In his meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Sejourne also said he hopes for continued non-escalation from Lebanon.
“We can only be silent, patient, and praying in this difficult period,” Mikati said following the meeting
Sejourne’s visit came a day after US mediator Amos Hochstein’s visit to Lebanon and a day before the expected visit of the Egyptian foreign minister to Beirut.
The visits are part of the intense efforts aiming to reach a diplomatic solution that would achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and de-escalate the situation on the southern front between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The French foreign minister also met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Following the meeting, he affirmed that his message “reiterates France’s support to Lebanon amid the concerning regional situation.”
He said: “What matters to us is working on de-escalating the situation. This message was addressed to Lebanese authorities and will also be addressed to other countries in the region, hoping things will calm down during these highly sensitive times.”
He added: “Our message is one of support, solidarity and responsibility. France will always support Lebanon in achieving peace in the region. Above all, a ceasefire in Gaza is an essential and indispensable element if we are to discuss peace in the region.”
According to his media office, Berri affirmed “Lebanon’s commitment to the rules of engagement and its right to self-defense against the Israeli aggression.”
Israel “targets civilians, media personalities and paramedics, in addition to using internationally forbidden weapons, including phosphorus bombs, to target agricultural fields and forests,” Berri said.
He emphasized Lebanon’s dedication to “the necessity to extend UNIFIL’s mandate in southern Lebanon for a new term under the French proposal and UN Resolution 1701.”
Sejourne also met with Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
According to statements by people he had met, US mediator Hochstein had warned the Lebanese officials during his visits on Wednesday against “the risks of a full-scale war.”
He added that “the current Doha negotiations are a final and precious opportunity that can be used to stop the war in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.”
The region is still waiting for the Iranian response to Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, in addition to Hezbollah’s response to the killing of its senior military commander Fouad Shukur, in Beirut’s southern suburbs hours before Haniyeh’s death.
Hezbollah said in a statement on Thursday that “it will unwaveringly continue to defend Lebanon and its people with courage and full strength, employing all its capabilities and surprises.”
In commemoration of what Hezbollah calls the “July 2006 War Victory,” the group reaffirmed “its commitment to resistance and its unwavering support for the Palestinian people.”
Hezbollah on Thursday targeted the Shamir settlement for the first time with Katyusha rockets.
The group said that the attack was in response to “the Israeli enemy’s hostilities against Jdeidet Marjayoun Wednesday night, which caused casualties.”
According to the updated toll of the Health Ministry’s emergency operations center, the unprecedented Israeli attack on the Jdeidet Marjayoun village “killed one person and severely injured another, who suffered a cardiac arrest.”
The center added that “upon the patient’s arrival to the hospital, he underwent a very critical surgery following the CPR performed by the medical staff.”
Around eight people — including a three-year-old boy — were also injured as a result of the attack.
The child underwent surgery in the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital.
He was subsequently transferred to the Saint George Hospital University Medical Center in Beirut due to his critical condition.
His father, whose condition was also critical, was transferred to the same hospital.
Three other people were moderately injured, while two women and a Syrian national were treated in the hospital.
Israeli artillery on Thursday targeted the town of Khiam with internationally banned phosphorus bombs, as well as the town of Qabrikha, resulting in the injury of two members of the Islamic Risala Scout Association in Khiam, as well as injuring a 10-year-old child in Qabrikha.
The Israeli shelling also reached the outskirts of the towns of Naqoura and Deir Mimas, which were targeted with incendiary shells.
Hezbollah, according to its statements on Thursday, “targeted the Ma’ayan Baruch site with artillery shells” and “a positioning point for Israeli soldiers at the Al-Malikiyah site.”
It also launched “an air attack with a squadron of assault drones on the Khirbet Ma'ar site, targeting the positions of enemy officers and soldiers.”
Hezbollah mourned two of its members: Mohammed Ali Jihad Badr Al-Din, aged 30, from the town of Harouf in southern Lebanon, and Hussein Yassin Sheito, aged 29, from the town of At Tiri in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military, in anticipation of the visit of the US envoy Hochstein to Lebanon, used bunker-busting bombs for the first time in Kfarkela.
It also announced the crashing of an assault drone in an open area near Arab Al-Aramshe on the border with Lebanon without causing any injuries.
Israeli media reported that a settler was injured in Kiryat Shmona.
French foreign minister in Beirut applauds Lebanon’s ‘self-restraint in difficult period’
https://arab.news/4xtc5
French foreign minister in Beirut applauds Lebanon’s ‘self-restraint in difficult period’
- PM Mikati: ‘We must now practice silence, patience, and prayer’
- Incendiary phosphorous shells used on southern Lebanese towns
Iraqi president calls for more global action on desertification
- Iraq is the world’s fifth most vulnerable country to climate change
DAVOS: Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid has called for more action on desertification, amid global concerns of land degradation that has affected agricultural productivity, caused pollution in waterways and resulted in increased frequency of droughts.
“We attend many conferences, joined many groups for solving desertification but unfortunately the actual achievement has been very little to show for. I appeal to you, once we make decisions for decreasing desertification, let us act on it,” Rashid said on Friday.
Speaking during a World Economic Forum panel “On Firmer Ground with Land Restoration,” the Iraqi leader told participants that land restoration was not just an environmental imperative but also a moral duty.
“In Iraq, we face the consequences of environmental challenges. Nearly 40 percent of our land is affected by desertification, and our water resources essential for agriculture and livelihood are under severe strain. These problems are made worse by climate change, rising temperatures, reduced river flows from our neighboring countries,” the president, a British-educated engineer, said.
Iraq is the world’s fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, and there are grave concerns regarding water and food security, according to the UN.
The depletion of water resources and the spread of desertification are exacerbating Iraq’s problems, leading to conditions including scorching temperatures exceeding 50°C — recorded in 2023 — coupled with water scarcity, desertification and reduced rainfall, the global body said.
Government figures show that desertification has ravaged 71 percent of the nation’s arable land, with an additional 10,000 hectares becoming barren each year. This degradation has reduced the amount of cultivable land to just 1.4 million hectares and has led to a 70 percent decline in agricultural output.
“Iraq is taking bold and good steps to combat these challenges,” according to Rashid, who was the Iraqi minister of water resources from 2003-2010.
One of these steps was the implementation of a 10-year program to combat desertification that prioritizes reforestation, soil preservation and sustainable agricultural practice, Rashid said.
Iraq needs to plant 15 billion trees to combat desertification, establish forests and reduce greenhouse gases, its agriculture ministry said, considering the country’s forest area is only 8,250 sq km, or just 2 percent of its total area.
“We are establishing a buffer zone around our cities to prevent desertification by planting native and drought-resistant vegetation. These efforts are not just environmental but economic. Land restoration is integral to Iraq’s long-term economic plan … (our) development particularly in agriculture, energy and water security,” Rashid said.
“Additionally, we are promoting smart agriculture, diversifying crops, encouraging organic and regenerating farming and mandating sustainable land use practices through legislation,” the Iraqi leader added.
“Sustainable development is key to growth without compromising our environmental health.”
The Iraqi leader also emphasized the need for cross-border cooperation and collaboration with its neighbors — Turkiye and Iran — particularly on water resource matters.
“Iraq is engaged with negotiations in upstream countries including Turkiye and Iran to secure (an) equitable water-sharing agreement for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. These negotiations are essential for the future of our region,” he said.
Turkish and Iranian dams upstream on the shared Tigris and Euphrates rivers are cutting Iraq off from much-needed water relief. It is estimated that Turkiye’s various dam and hydropower construction projects have reduced Iraq’s water supply along the two rivers by 80 percent since 1975.
Meanwhile, Iran’s development push has led to the proliferation of dams, impacting Iraq, to about 647 in 2018 from only 316 in 2012.
“Iraq is working with many international organizations to adopt climate resilient agriculture … gaining access to expertise for funding need to succeed. Ultimately, we know that lasting solutions require local actions; mobilizing communities is at the heart of our strategy,” Rashid said.
UN denounces Israel’s use of ‘war fighting’ methods in West Bank
- ’We are deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank’
GENEVA: The United Nations voiced serious concerns Friday over the Israeli military’s use of force in its raid this week in the West Bank, including methods “developed for war fighting.”
“We are deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. The deadly Israeli operations in recent days raise serious concerns about unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including methods and means developed for war fighting, in violation of international human rights law, norms and standards applicable to law enforcement operations,” UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told a media briefing in Geneva.
Iranian vice president visits Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
- The delegation was introduced to the mosque’s history, architecture, distinctive Islamic art, and collection of items representing Islamic civilization
DUBAI: Iran’s Vice President Shina Ansari, along with Reza Ameri, Iranian ambassador to the UAE, visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, state news agency WAM reported on Friday.
Ansari was accompanied by Yousef Al-Obaidli, director-general of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center, during the tour.
The delegation was introduced to the mosque’s history, architecture, distinctive Islamic art, and collection of items representing Islamic civilization.
They also learned about the significant role of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center in promoting Islamic culture, cross-cultural dialogue, and the values of coexistence and tolerance, inspired by the legacy of Sheikh Zayed.
At the end of the visit, Ansari was presented with a piece of art featuring a verse from the Qu’ran in Kufic script, one of the Islamic art styles used in decorating the mosque’s domes, along with a copy of the book “Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: Lights of Peace,” the latest publication from the center.
UAE minister meets Syria’s FM in Davos
DUBAI: The UAE’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Gergawi had a meeting this week with Asaad Al-Shibani, Syria’s foreign affairs minister in the transitional government, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, state news agency WAM reported on Friday.
During the meeting, Al-Gergawi reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to supporting Syria’s independence and sovereignty.
He emphasized the UAE’s support for all efforts to achieve peace, stability, and a dignified future for the nation’s people.
Freedom is bittersweet for Palestinians released from Israeli jails
- Since the start of the war the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has doubled to more than 10,000
- Many prisoners are never told why they were detained
RAMALLAH: When Dania Hanatsheh was released from an Israeli jail this week and dropped off by bus into a sea of jubilant Palestinians in Ramallah, it was an uncomfortable déjà vu.
After nearly five months of detention, it was the second time the 22-year-old woman had been freed as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the war in Gaza.
Hanatsheh’s elation at being free again is tinged with sadness about the devastation in Gaza, she said, as well as uncertainty about whether she could be detained in the future — a common feeling in her community.
“Palestinian families are prepared to be arrested at any moment,” said Hanatsheh, one of 90 women and teenagers released by Israel during the first phase of the ceasefire deal. “You feel helpless like you can’t do anything to protect yourself.”
Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be released as part of a deal to halt the fighting for six weeks, free 33 hostages from Gaza, and increase fuel and aid deliveries to the territory. Many of the prisoners to be released have been detained for infractions such as throwing stones or Molotov cocktails, while others are convicted of killing Israelis.
Hanatsheh was first arrested in November 2023, just weeks into the war triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel. She was freed days later during a weeklong ceasefire in which hundreds of Palestinians were released in exchange for nearly half of the roughly 250 hostages Hamas and others dragged into Gaza.
She was detained again in August, when Israeli troops burst through her door, using an explosive, she said.
On neither occasion was she told why she’d been arrested, she said. A list maintained by Israel’s justice ministry says Hanatsheh was detained for “supporting terror,” although she was never charged or given a trial and doesn’t belong to any militant group.
Her story resonates across Palestinian society, where nearly every family — in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem — has a relative who has spent time in an Israeli jail. This has left scars on generations of families, leaving fewer breadwinners and forcing children to grow up without one or both parents for long stretches.
Since the start of the war 15 months ago, the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has doubled to more than 10,000, a figure that includes detainees from Gaza, and several thousand arrested in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to Hamoked, an Israeli legal group.
Many prisoners are never told why they were detained. Israel’s “administrative detention” policy allows it to jail people — as it did with Hanatsheh — based on secret evidence, without publicly charging them or ever holding a trial. Only intelligence officers or judges know the charges, said Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Detainees’ Parents Committee in Jerusalem.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel cannot be later rearrested on the same charges, or returned to jail to finish serving time for past offenses. Prisoners are not required to sign any document upon their release.
The conditions for Palestinian prisoners deteriorated greatly after the war in Gaza began. The country’s then-national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, boasted last year that prisons will no longer be “summer camps” under his watch.
Several of the prisoners released this week said they lacked adequate food and medical care and that they were forced to sleep in cramped cells.
Men and women prisoners in Israel are routinely beaten and sprayed with pepper gas, and they are deprived of family visits or a change of clothes, said Khalida Jarrar, the most prominent detainee freed.
For years, Jarrar, 62, has been in and out of prison as a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist faction with an armed wing that has carried out attacks on Israelis.
Human Rights Watch has decried Jarrar’s repeated arrests — she was last detained late in 2023 — as part of an unjust Israeli crackdown on non-violent political opposition.
At an event in Ramallah to welcome home the newly released prisoners, Jarrar greeted a long line of well- wishers. But not everyone was celebrating. Some families worried the ceasefire wouldn’t last long enough for their relatives to be freed.
During the ceasefire’s first phase, Israel and Hamas and mediators from Qatar, the US and Egypt will try to agree upon a second phase, in which all remaining hostages in Gaza would be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a “sustainable calm.” Negotiations on the second phase begin on the sixteenth day of the ceasefire.
For Yassar Saadat, the first release of prisoners was a particularly bittersweet moment. His mother, Abla Abdelrasoul, was freed after being under “administrative detention” since September, according to the justice ministry, which said her crime was “security to the state — other.” But his father — one of the most high-profile prisoners in Israel — remains behind bars.
“We don’t know if he’ll be released, but we don’t lose hope,” he said. His father, Ahmad Saadat, is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who was convicted of killing an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001 and has been serving a 30-year sentence.
It’s unclear if he’ll be released and, even if he is, whether he’ll be able to see his family. The ceasefire agreement says all Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks who are released will be exiled, either to Gaza or abroad, and barred from ever returning to Israel or the West Bank.
The release of some convicted murderers is a sore spot for many Israelis, and particularly those whose relatives were killed.
Micah Avni’s father, Richard Lakin, was shot and stabbed to death by a member of Hamas on a public bus in 2015 and his killer’s name is on the list of prisoners to be freed in phase one. While Avni is grateful that more hostages in Gaza are beginning to come home, he doesn’t believe it’ll lead to long-term peace between Israel and Hamas.
“These deals come with a huge, huge cost of life and there are going to be many, many, many more people murdered in the future by the people who were released,” he said.
Israel has a history of agreeing to lopsided exchanges. In 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, taken hostage by Hamas.
One of the prisoners released during that deal was Hamas’ former top leader, Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack who was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza last year.
Some Palestinians said the lopsided exchanges of prisoners for hostages is justified by Israel’s seemingly arbitrary detention policies. Others said, for now, all they want to focus on is lost time with their families.
Amal Shujaeiah said she spent more than seven months in prison, accused by Israel of partaking in pro-Palestinian events at her university and hosting a podcast that talked about the war in Gaza.
Back home, the 21-year-old beamed as she embraced friends and relatives.
“Today I am among my family and loved ones, indescribable joy ... a moment of freedom that makes you forget the sorrow.”
