BEIRUT: President Joseph Aoun said on Saturday that Lebanon has entered a “new phase” in its history “after decades of violence, wars, economic and financial crises, and the deterioration of the state’s structure.”
In his address to the Lebanese people to mark Eid Al-Fitr, Aoun added: “For those who think our resolve will weaken or our determination will waver; there is no turning back.”
Aoun, who returned from Paris on Friday evening after holding talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and officials from Cyprus and Greece, continued: “What distinguishes Lebanon is its adherence to the values of unity, solidarity, and rising above selfishness and personal interests. There is no salvation for Lebanon unless we live by these values, which, alongside the implementation of laws and the realization of justice, form the only path to combating corruption, achieving structural reforms in our national institutions, and advancing Lebanon to keep pace with global progress and modernity.”
Also on Saturday, the Lebanese army continued its investigations to determine who was responsible for the rockets fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel on Friday, an event that led to an escalation of Israeli aggression unprecedented since a ceasefire agreement came into effect four months ago.
A military source said: “Night raids were conducted by army intelligence in the south and the western Bekaa aimed at finding suspects involved in launching rockets from the south.”
An Israeli airstrike on the Hadath area in the southern suburbs of Beirut resulted in the complete destruction of two buildings and damage to numerous neighboring structures, including two schools in the area. Students from those schools organized a protest on Saturday to “denounce the Israeli assaults,” and asking for clarification on “the fate of the academic year in light of the damages that hinder an immediate return to the two schools.”
Morgan Ortagus, US deputy special envoy to the Middle East, said in an interview with a local Lebanese station on Friday night that the United States “supports the Lebanese Army,” adding: “The launching of rockets from Lebanon into Israel constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement reached between the two parties, and this escalation raises significant international concern.”
Ortagus also stated that the Lebanese government is “responsible for disarming Hezbollah,” but noted “the government is unable to control everything, which contributes to the deterioration of the security situation in the country.”
The US envoy continued: “It cannot be claimed that Israel is violating the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon,” and urged Lebanese authorities to “take responsibility instead of blaming Israel.”
Ortagus reaffirmed the US administration’s stance, urging “the full disarmament of Hezbollah, as it threatens stability in Lebanon and the region.” She also accused Iran and Hezbollah of “destroying the south and dragging Lebanon into a war that could have been avoided were it not for Iran’s interference and Hezbollah’s involvement. The US is committed to using all available measures to prevent the arming of Hezbollah, as it poses a significant threat to regional security.
“The US does not seek a larger conflict between Lebanon and Israel, but instead aims to maintain the ceasefire agreement between the two sides. As a gesture of goodwill, Israel released Lebanese prisoners, signaling its willingness to pursue a diplomatic solution. In addition, the Lebanese president supports diplomatic negotiations, making it a critical time to activate diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon,” Ortagus added.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to violate Lebanon’s sovereignty. Low-altitude reconnaissance aircraft have been regularly spotted over Beirut and its southern suburbs, including the towns of Bechamoun, Aramoun, Khaldeh and Choueifat in Mount Lebanon.
In the south, an Israeli warplane dropped two stun grenades near a crowd of residents in the town square of Yaroun in Bint Jbeil.
The municipalities of Beirut’s southern suburbs have called on the residents to refrain from using firecrackers or engaging in celebratory gunfire during the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, stating that violators will be “referred to the appropriate judicial authorities.”
The municipalities have also banned merchants from selling firecrackers, “under the threat of having their shops shut down.”
Israeli reconnaissance aircraft violate Lebanese airspace over Beirut
https://arab.news/4my3u
Israeli reconnaissance aircraft violate Lebanese airspace over Beirut
- Lebanese army seeking those responsible for the firing of rockets toward Israel on Friday
- ‘We have entered a new phase in our nation’s history, and there is no turning back,’ says Aoun
How doctors from Syria’s diaspora are helping Homs rebuild its shattered health system
- Syria’s 14-year civil war forced medical professionals to flee in their thousands, depriving the country of critical care
- Diaspora doctors are now rebuilding services in Homs, with a focus on chronic conditions and mental health
INNUMBERS
* 7 of 17 Hospitals in Homs that are fully functional.
* 58 of 227 Public health facilities that are fully operational.
(Source: WHO)
ANAN TELLO
LONDON: After 14 years of civil war, Syria’s largest province, Homs, has emerged from the conflict with its health system in tatters. Now, as families begin to return from displacement, diaspora doctors are stepping in to help revive damaged and long-neglected services.
Among them are more than 30 physicians and civic leaders from Chicago. The Syrian American delegation, led by Dr. Zaher Sahloul of the US-based nonprofit MedGlobal, conducted workshops in early April as part of the Homs Healthcare Recovery Initiative.
Sahloul said the scale of the crisis is staggering. “During the conflict, many physicians, subspecialists and allied health professionals left Homs,” he told Arab News. “The main hospital in Homs City, Al-Watani, was completely destroyed.”
The exodus of medical professionals left a “huge shortage of specialists, hospital beds and primary health centers,” highlighting “deep inequality in the distribution of healthcare, especially between the city and rural areas,” said Sahloul.
Outdated technology and a lack of medical supplies, equipment and medications have further hindered care.
Once dubbed the “capital of the revolution,” Homs was a key battleground in the uprising against Bashar Assad that began in 2011. Years of fighting devastated the province’s infrastructure, leaving hospitals in ruins and severely limiting access to basic services.
“Half of Homs city has been destroyed, and several other cities were heavily damaged, shelled, or under siege — including Palmyra, Al-Qaryatayn and Al-Qusayr,” said Sahloul. “A huge number of people fled Homs and became refugees or internally displaced.”
By December 2013, almost half the governorate’s population had been displaced, according to UN figures. In the city of Homs alone, 60 percent of residents fled their homes.
Homs is not alone in experiencing such devastation. Today, only 57 percent of hospitals and 37 percent of primary healthcare centers across Syria are fully operational, according to the World Health Organization.
Insecurity and violence since the fall of Assad in December continue to disrupt health services, endangering both patients and medical staff.
Since March, surging violence in Alawite areas — particularly in Syria’s coastal region and the Homs and Hama governorates — has damaged six major hospitals and several ambulances, according to the UN Population Fund.
More than 1,000 civilians — including many medical students — have been killed in sectarian attacks, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said in early March. The hostilities have also triggered a fresh wave of displacement.
“The escalation reportedly caused additional civilian casualties and injuries, the displacement of thousands of families and damage to critical infrastructure,” Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East, said in a statement on March 9.
Within Homs, the healthcare system is particularly strained. According to a February WHO report, just seven of the province’s 17 hospitals and 58 of its 227 public health facilities are fully functional. Another four hospitals and 124 facilities are operating only partially.
Patients with chronic conditions face serious barriers to care. Cancer patients in Homs “have to go to Damascus to receive their treatment,” said Sahloul. “Patients with chronic diseases cannot afford their medications due to the economic situation.
“Some patients on dialysis occasionally miss their treatments due to a shortage of dialysis kits. These kits are expensive, with each session costing around $20 to $25.”
The humanitarian crisis is compounded by economic hardship and continued sanctions. With monthly wages ranging from just $15 to $50 and about 90 percent of the population living below the poverty line, many cannot afford basic care.
Mass layoffs affecting about 250,000 public-sector workers have further strained the system.
The UN estimates that 15.8 million people will require humanitarian health assistance in 2025, even as funding continues to decline.
Mental health needs are also immense. “There are large numbers of war victims, including those displaced by violence and people who have lost family members,” said Sahloul, adding that torture survivors and former detainees are “deeply traumatized.”
He said: “As IDPs and refugees begin to return, the burden on mental health services grows.”
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that at least 1.4 million Syrians have returned home since the fall of the Assad regime. It projects that as many as 3.5 million refugees and IDPs could return by the end of the year.
“This means a growing number of people are coming back to areas with limited or no access to essential services like education, housing and healthcare,” said Sahloul. “All of this creates a situation that is nearly catastrophic.”
Given the scale of the crisis, Syria’s Ministry of Health cannot meet all needs alone. Sahloul highlighted the urgent need for support from NGOs and foreign governments to help sustain as well as rebuild the healthcare system.
Aid agencies are stepping in. The UN Office for Project Services, in partnership with the government of Japan, is working to rehabilitate Homs Grand Hospital to restore critical services.
Similarly, the American Syrian Homs Healthcare Recovery mission, led by MedGlobal, has provided emergency supplies, performed critical surgeries and trained local healthcare workers in collaboration with Syrian communities.
Highlighting the initiative’s impact, Sahloul said: “Some teams began filling gaps in the healthcare system by donating funds for essential medical equipment, including a cardiac catheterization machine for Al-Waleed Hospital, an eye echo machine for Al-Harith Hospital, a stress echo machine for a public hospital, neurosurgical equipment for the university hospital and more.”
The mission, which began with a small team and quickly grew to include 650 expatriate physicians, has focused on three urgent priorities: Supporting dialysis patients, sustaining cardiac catheterization centers and addressing mental health.
“As part of the initiative, we provided dialysis kits across three different centers,” said Sahloul.
“Non-communicable diseases, not war-related injuries, are the primary health threat,” he added, citing high rates of smoking, hypertension, diabetes and fast food consumption.
The Ministry of Health has also inaugurated the Homs Center for Mental Health Support to assist survivors of torture and war.
However, Sahloul said that improving healthcare requires more than equipment and supplies — it demands addressing longstanding inequities between urban and rural areas, and among different communities.
“One of MedGlobal’s main missions is to reduce these disparities by identifying and filling gaps in healthcare access,” he said. “Historically, Syria has faced significant inequities between rural and urban areas, as well as within different neighborhoods based on their demographics.
“There are also disparities between major urban centers like Damascus and Aleppo, and the rest of the country. The eastern part of Syria, Hauran and the central regions were historically marginalized.
“By targeting these disparities, there is hope to ease tensions and begin healing a fractured society.”
Despite growing rehabilitation efforts and the commitment of local and international organizations, the scale of need still far exceeds available resources. As instability continues across Syria, both patients and health workers face daily risks.
The path to recovery is long and uncertain. Without sustained support, aid agencies warn, the country’s most vulnerable will remain at risk.
Houthis say 2 killed in US strikes Sanaa
- The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, also reported strikes in other parts of the country, including their stronghold of Saada in the north
SANAA: Houthi media said on Sunday that strikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa attributed to the US had killed two people and wounded several others.
“Two people were killed and another injured after the Americans targeted a house” in a neighborhood in south Sanaa, the Houthis’ official Saba news agency said.
“Nine others were injured, including two women and three children, in the attack on a residential area in the west of Al-Rawda,” another district of the Yemeni capital, according to the same source.
On Saturday evening, the AFP correspondent in Sanaa reported hearing explosions.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, also reported strikes in other parts of the country, including their stronghold of Saada in the north.
They said the fuel port of Ras Issa in the western Hodeida region — where they reported 80 people killed in strikes just over a week ago — had also been hit.
The Houthis portray themselves as defenders of Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
They have regularly launched missiles and drones at Israel and cargo vessels plying the key Red Sea trade route.
The US military has, since January 2024, been attacking their positions, saying it is trying to stop their attacks.
Those attacks have intensified recently, with strikes carried out almost daily for the past month.
On Sunday, the Houthis claimed to have launched, for the second time in two days, a missile toward Israel.
The Israeli army reported intercepting a missile from Yemen before it crossed into the country’s territory.
On Saturday, CENTCOM, the US military command in the region, posted footage from the US aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman and Carl Vinson conducting strikes against the Houthis.
Sultan of Oman, UK foreign secretary discuss Gaza, US-Iran negotiations
- They met at Al-Barakah Palace in Muscat on Sunday
- David Lammy reaffirmed British government’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation
LONDON: Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq discussed regional and international issues with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Al-Barakah Palace in Muscat on Sunday.
The sultan praised cooperation between the two countries, and Lammy reaffirmed the British government’s commitment to strengthening cooperation, the Oman News Agency reported.
They discussed Gaza ceasefire efforts, and US-Iranian negotiations mediated by Oman to reach an agreement regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, ONA reported.
Also in attendance were Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al-Busaidi; Sir Oliver Robbins, permanent undersecretary at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; and British Ambassador Liane Saunders.
Iraq’s judiciary acquits powerful former speaker of forgery
- Halbussi’s media office said on Sunday that “the Iraqi judiciary acquitted” the former head of parliament “of the charges previously brought against him”
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s judiciary has acquitted the influential former parliament speaker, Mohammed Al-Halbussi, after dismissing him in 2023 over accusations of forging a document, his office announced Sunday.
Halbussi had been the highest-ranking Sunni official since he first became speaker of parliament in 2018 with the support of Iraq’s powerful pro-Iran parties, and then in 2022 following early elections.
But in November 2023, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court dismissed Halbussi after a lawmaker accused him of forging a resignation letter and said the former speaker had changed the date on an older document to force him out of parliament.
Halbussi’s media office said on Sunday that “the Iraqi judiciary acquitted” the former head of parliament “of the charges previously brought against him.”
It added that the courts “dismissed the complaints” and closed the investigation.
Halbussi, who heads the Taqadom party, is known for his rapid ascent in Iraqi politics and as a key interlocutor for many Western and Arab dignitaries.
Iraq’s 329-member parliament is dominated by a coalition of pro-Iran Shiite parties.
Under a power-sharing system adopted in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion, political positions are divided between Iraq’s ethnic and confessional communities.
In the top positions, the role of prime minister, currently held by Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, always goes to a Shiite Muslim, that of speaker of parliament to a Sunni Muslim and the presidency to a Kurd.
Israel PM calls security chief ‘liar’, in court filing
- Bar’s dismissal, announced by the government last month but frozen by the country’s top court, triggered mass protests.
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an affidavit before the Supreme Court on Sunday, described as a “liar” the country’s internal security chief, whom the government is trying to fire.
Netanyahu’s response came almost a week after Shin Bet head Ronen Bar himself made a sworn statement to the court. It accused the prime minister of demanding personal loyalty and ordering him to spy on anti-government protesters.
Bar’s dismissal, announced by the government last month but frozen by the country’s top court, triggered mass protests.
The unprecedented move to fire the head of the Shin Bet security agency has been contested by the attorney general and the opposition, which appealed Bar’s firing to the Supreme Court.
“The accusation according to which I allegedly demanded action against innocent civilians, or against a non-violent and legitimate protest during the protests of 2023, is an absolute lie,” Netanyahu said in his court statement.
In his own affidavit, Bar had said “it was clear” that in the event of a potential constitutional crisis, Netanyahu would expect Bar to obey the prime minister and not the courts.
Netanyahu countered: “There is no proof supporting these remarks.”
Bar had also denied accusations by Netanyahu and his associates that the Shin Bet had failed to warn in time about Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
“Nothing was hidden” on that night from the security apparatus or the prime minister, Bar said.
Netanyahu countered before the court that Bar “did not accomplish his mission” that night.
“He did not wake up the prime minister. He did not wake up the minister of defense. He did not wake up the soldiers of the army,” or others before the attack, Netanyahu alleged.
The prime minister’s 23-page document said Bar “failed in his role as chief of Shin Bet and lost the confidence of the entire Israeli government as far as his ability to continue to manage the organization.”
Netanyahu’s office had already made similar public comments immediately after Bar filed his affidavit.
An April 8 Supreme Court hearing on the government’s plans to fire Bar ruled that he “will continue to perform his duties until a later decision.”
