BEIRUT: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday slammed attacks on United Nations peacekeepers as “unacceptable” after the UN force accused Israeli troops of firing at their positions in south Lebanon.
Meloni, the first head of state or government to visit Lebanon since an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah started last month, demanded the protection of the UNIFIL force, which includes Italian peacekeepers.
“I consider targeting UNIFIL unacceptable, and I ask once again that all parties strive to ensure at all times that the safety of each of these soldiers is guaranteed,” Meloni said during a press conference with her Lebanese counterpart Najib Mikati.
Italy has around 1,000 troops as part of the UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon which has come under repeated fire in the Israeli-Hezbollah war in recent days.
Five peacekeepers were injured in a series of incidents last week, with the latest seeing the UN force accuse Israeli troops of breaking through a gate and entering one of their positions.
UNIFIL on Sunday asked for explanations from the Israeli army over what they said were “shocking violations” against their force, including forced entry.
“I am convinced that UNIFIL must be strengthened. Only by strengthening UNIFIL while maintaining its impartiality, will we be able to turn the page” on the war, Meloni said.
UNIFIL, a mission of about 10,000 troops of various nationalities, was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon and to help the Lebanese government restore authority over the border region.
It is also tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Iran.
“I think that we have to come back to the initial mission of UNIFIL, and to do it properly, in coordination with” the Lebanese army, Meloni said.
“There must be no other military presence than that of UNIFIL” and the Lebanese army in border areas, she added.
Meloni — whose country holds the rotating presidency of the G7 this year — earlier Friday met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Aqaba.
They discussed the escalating conflict in the region and joint efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, according to Rome.
The Italian premier said Thursday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar cleared the way for a “new phase” in the Gaza war, which was sparked by the militant group’s deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Italian PM says ‘unacceptable’ to target UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
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Italian PM says ‘unacceptable’ to target UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
- “I am convinced that UNIFIL must be strengthened. Only by strengthening UNIFIL while maintaining its impartiality, will we be able to turn the page” on the war, Meloni said
- “There must be no other military presence than that of UNIFIL” and the Lebanese army in border areas
Syria rescuers say bodies found in warehouse
An AFP video journalist at the scene said the warehouse strewn with medicine boxes was located just around 50 metres (yards) from the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, a revered site for Shiite Muslims.
"We received a report about the presence of bodies, bones and a foul smell at the site," White Helmets official Ammar al-Salmo told AFP.
South Damascus's Sayyida Zeinab suburb was a stronghold of pro-Iran fighters including Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group before militants took the capital on December 8 in a lightning offensive.
"In the warehouse, we found a refrigerated room containing decomposing corpses," Salmo said, adding that some appeared to have died more than a year and a half earlier.
He said human bones were also scattered on the ground, estimating there were around 20 "victims".
AFP saw men in white suits removing bodies and remains in black bags and placing them onto a truck.
Salmo said the words Aleppo-Hraytan -- Syria's second city in the north, and a nearby location -- and numbers were written on bags where the unidentified bodies were found.
"We are going to establish the age of the victims" then take samples for DNA tests "and try to locate their families", Salmo added.
AFP was unable to independently ascertain the reason for the presence of the remains or the identities of the bodies.
Since Assad's ouster, a number of mass graves have been uncovered in the country.
The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people remains one of the most harrowing parts of the Syrian conflict, which has claimed more than 500,000 lives.
In 2022, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor estimated that more than 100,000 people had died in prison, mostly due to torture, since the war began.
UN calls for ‘free and fair’ elections in Syria
- UN special envoy Geir Pedersen said “there is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria”
- Calling for immediate humanitarian assistance, he also said he hoped to see an end to international sanctions
DAMASCUS: The UN envoy to Syria called on Wednesday for “free and fair” elections after the ouster of president Bashar Assad, as he voiced hope for a political solution for Kurdish-held areas.
Assad fled Syria following a lightning offensive spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), more than 13 years after his crackdown on democracy protests precipitated one of the deadliest wars of the century.
He left behind a country scarred by decades of torture, disappearances and summary executions, and the collapse of his rule on December 8 stunned the world and sparked celebrations around Syria and beyond.
Years of civil war have also left the country heavily dependent on aid, deeply fragmented, and desperate for justice and peace.
Addressing reporters in Damascus, UN special envoy Geir Pedersen said “there is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria.”
“A new Syria that... will adopt a new constitution... and that we will have free and fair elections when that time comes, after a transitional period,” he said.
Calling for immediate humanitarian assistance, he also said he hoped to see an end to international sanctions levied against Syria over Assad’s abuses.
Pedersen said a key challenge was the situation in Kurdish-held areas in Syria’s northeast, amid fears of a major escalation between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkiye-backed groups.
Turkiye accuses the main component of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants at home, whom both Washington and Ankara consider a “terrorist” group.
The United States said Tuesday it had brokered an extension to a fragile ceasefire in the flashpoint town of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Turkiye.
“I’m very pleased that the truce has been renewed and that it seems to be holding, but hopefully we will see a political solution to that issue,” Pedersen said.
Rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and proscribed as a terrorist organization by several Western governments, HTS has sought to moderate its rhetoric by assuring protection for the country’s many religious and ethnic minorities.
It has appointed a transitional leadership that will run the country until March 1.
HTS military chief Murhaf Abu Qasra said Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the country’s new leadership, adding that the group rejects federalism.
“Syria will not be divided,” he told AFP, adding that “the Kurdish people are one of the components of the Syrian people.”
He said HTS would be “among the first” factions to dissolve its armed wing and integrate into the armed forces, after the leader of the group ordered the disbanding of militant organizations.
“All military units must be integrated into this institution,” Abu Qasra said.
HTS has also vowed justice for the crimes committed under Assad’s rule, including the disappearance of tens of thousands of people into the complex web of detention centers and prisons that was used for decades to silence dissent.
“We want to know where our children are, our brothers,” said 55-year-old Ziad Alaywi, standing by a ditch near the town of Najha, southeast of Damascus.
It is one of the locations where Syrians believe the bodies of prisoners tortured to death were buried — acts that international organizations say could constitute crimes against humanity.
“Were they killed? Are they buried here?” he asked.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, more than 100,000 people died or were killed in custody from 2011.
Libyan rivals resume talks in Morocco to break political deadlock
- Talks are between rival legislative bodies based in east and west of country
- Political process to end civil war stalled since election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed
RABAT: Delegations from rival Libyan institutions resumed talks in Morocco on Wednesday to try to break a political deadlock and prevent the country from sliding back into chaos.
Libya has undergone a turbulent decade since it split in 2014 between two administrations in its east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
The talks in Bouznika, near the Moroccan capital Rabat, were between rival legislative bodies known as the High Council of State based in Tripoli in the west and the House of Representatives based in Benghazi in the east.
Speaking at the opening of consultations between the institutions, Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita urged participants to work together to preserve Libya’s unity and prepare for “credible elections.”
“The numerous international and regional conferences on Libya will not replace the inter-Libyan dialogue which has credibility and ownership,” he said.
A political process to end years of institutional division, outright warfare and unstable peace has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed, amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.
The House of Representatives was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a political transition.
Under a 2015 Libyan Political Agreement, reached in Morocco’s Skhirate near Rabat, the High State Council was formed as a consultative second chamber with an advisory role.
But the House of Representatives then appointed its own rival government, saying the mandate of the prime minister of a government of national unity had expired. The eastern-appointed government has had little clout, but its appointment revived Libya’s east-west division.
Israeli troops remove Israeli settler group who crossed into Lebanon
- Times of Israel reported 10 days ago that the group said they had crossed the border and established an outpost
- On Wednesday, the Israeli military said they had been promptly removed
JERUSALEM: Israeli soldiers removed a small far-right group of Israeli civilians who had crossed into Lebanon, appearing to put up a tent settlement, in what the military said on Wednesday was a serious incident now under investigation.
The Times of Israel reported 10 days ago that the group, advocating the annexation and settlement of southern Lebanon, said they had crossed the border and established an outpost.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said they had been promptly removed.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the civilians indeed crossed the blue line by a few meters, and after being identified by IDF forces, they were removed from the area,” said a statement by the IDF, Israel’s military.
Israeli settlers from the far-right organisation, Uri Tzafon, crossed the border into southern Lebanon, breaching the blue line into Maroun al-Ras, and set up tents.
— Naks Bilal (@NaksBilal) December 18, 2024
The organisation has been advocating for annexation and settlement of southern Lebanon.
Settler-colonialism. pic.twitter.com/JopHbHVP41
“Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission,” the statement said.
The Times of Israel said the area the group claimed to have entered was under Israeli military control as part of a ceasefire deal signed last month between Israel and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.
Under the terms of the Nov. 26 ceasefire, Israeli forces may remain in Lebanon for 60 days. Israel has not established settlements in southern Lebanon, including when its military occupied the area from 1982-2000.
Syrian opposition leader Al-Bahra calls for national support in Syria’s transition
DUBAI: Hadi Al-Bahra, head of the Syrian National Coalition, called on Wednesday for Syrians to unite behind a shared vision for the country’s recovery, urging national support for the current caretaker government until a transitional body can be established in March 2025.
Al-Bahra outlined a comprehensive roadmap for political transition, emphasizing the need to form a credible and inclusive transitional government.
He stressed that this government must avoid sectarianism and ensure that no political factions are excluded, reflecting a commitment to fairness and unity.
Al-Bahra called for the creation of a national conference and a constitutional assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution. This process, he said, would pave the way for a nationwide referendum and free elections, enabling the Syrian people to shape their future through democratic means.
“The transitional government must represent all Syrians,” Al-Bahra said, highlighting the importance of inclusivity as the cornerstone of Syria’s recovery.
While denying direct meetings with former regime leader Farouk Al-Sharaa, Al-Bahra confirmed indirect communications with individuals close to Al-Sharaa and members of the caretaker government.
