UNITED NATIONS, New York: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an international conference early next year to “launch a genuine peace process” while criticizing the recent decision of two Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.
In an address before the UN General Assembly on Friday, Abbas seemed to acknowledge the growing international weariness with the decades-old conflict, saying “I wonder what more I can say after all I’ve said on countless occasions.”
The Palestinians have rejected President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the conflict that overwhelmingly favors Israel, and have officially cut off contacts with both the US and Israel. Instead, they have called for a multilateral peace process based on UN resolutions and past agreements.
They have also rejected the decision of the UAE and Bahrain to normalize ties with Israel, viewing it as a betrayal of the longstanding Arab consensus that recognition of Israel should only come in exchange for territorial concessions.
In his speech, Abbas said the agreements, signed at the White House earlier this month, are a “violation” of the “principles of a just and lasting solution under international law.”
Abbas spoke before a large plaque reading “State of Palestine.” The Palestinians upgraded their status to “observer state” at the UN in 2012.
Abbas closed by saying “there can be no peace, no security, no stability, no coexistence in our region without an end to the occupation.”
“We will not bow down. We will not surrender. We will not compromise. And we shall triumph,” he said.
Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas asks UN for international peace conference next year
https://arab.news/cseqa
Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas asks UN for international peace conference next year
- Abbas spoke before a large plaque reading “State of Palestine”
- Abbas seemed to acknowledge the growing international weariness with the decades-old conflict
Israel strikes Gaza as more Rafah evacuations ordered
- Fighting is escalating across the enclave with heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas
- Israel’s move into Rafah has so far been short of the full-scale invasion that it has planned
RAFAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes on Saturday hit parts of Gaza including Rafah where Israel expanded an evacuation order and the UN warned of “epic” disaster if an outright invasion of the crowded city occurs.
AFP journalists, medics and witnesses reported strikes from the south to the north of the coastal territory, where the UN says aid is blocked after Israeli troops defied international opposition and entered eastern Rafah this week, effectively shutting two crossings.
At least 21 people were killed during strikes in central Gaza and taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah city, a hospital statement said.
Bodies covered in white lay on the ground in a courtyard of the facility. A man in a baseball cap leaned over one body bag, clasping a dust-covered hand that protruded.
The feet of another corpse poked from under a blanket bearing the picture of a large teddy bear.
In Rafah, witnesses reported intense air strikes near the crossing with Egypt, and AFP images showed smoke rising over the city.
Other strikes occurred in north Gaza, they said.
Israeli troops on Tuesday seized and closed the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing — through which all fuel passes into Gaza — after ordering residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate.
Israel’s military said it went into eastern Rafah to pursue Palestinian militants.
Fighting continued on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, the military reported on Friday, before on Saturday expanding its evacuation order to more areas of Rafah’s east.
Evacuation orders
The new order, posted on social media platform X by military spokesman Avichay Adraee, said the designated areas had “witnessed Hamas terrorist activities in recent days and weeks.”
The war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
During their attack, militants also seized hostages. Israel estimates 128 of them remain in Gaza including 36 whom the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
A US State Department report on Friday said Israel likely violated norms on international law in its use of weapons from the United States but it did not find enough evidence to block shipments.
The State Department submitted its report two days after President Joe Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells if Israel goes ahead with an all-out assault on Rafah, where the United Nations said 1.4 million had been sheltering.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to “eliminate” Hamas battalions in Rafah and achieve “total victory,” after the army in January said it had dismantled the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza.
But on Saturday Adraee said Hamas “is trying to rebuild” there, and ordered evacuations from the north’s Jabalia and Beit Lahia areas.
After rising criticism from Washington over the civilian impact of Israel’s war against Hamas, the threat to withhold weapons was the first time Biden raised the ultimate US leverage over Israel — its military aid which totals $3 billion annually.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that Gaza risked an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.
While the army said it reopened Kerem Shalom crossing near Rafah on Wednesday, aid agencies cautioned that getting assistance through the militarised area remained extremely difficult.
Aid in limbo
A UN report late Friday cited Martin Griffiths, the UN’s aid chief, as saying closure of the crossings “means no aid.”
Israel has said its Erez crossing into northern Gaza remains open.
The State Department report said it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel has used American weapons in ways inconsistent with standards on humanitarian rights but that the United States could not reach “conclusive findings.”
The report does not affect Biden’s threat to withhold some weapons.
On Friday the White House said it did not yet see a “major ground operation” in Rafah but was watching the situation “with concern.”
Biden’s administration had already paused delivery of 3,500 bombs as Israel appeared ready to attack Rafah.
More than 100,000 people fled the city after the initial evacuation order, the United Nations said on Friday.
Israel on Saturday gave a figure of 300,000, as more Rafah residents piled water tanks, mattresses and other belongings onto vehicles and prepared to flee again.
Malek Al-Zaza, with a trim grey beard, said he has been displaced three times now during the war and found “no food” and “no water” in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp where he has returned.
“We only have God looking out for us,” he said.
Humanitarian crisis
Israel said it had delivered 200,000 liters of fuel to Gaza on Friday through Kerem Shalom — the amount the United Nations says is needed every day to keep aid trucks moving and hospital generators working.
Reiterating his calls for a ceasefire, Guterres said: “We are actively engaged with all involved for the resumption of the entry of life-saving supplies — including desperately needed fuel — through Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.”
The evacuation order on Saturday told residents to go to the “humanitarian zone” of Al-Mawasi, on the coast northwest of Rafah.
That area has “extremely limited access to clean drinking water, latrines, et cetera,” said Sylvain Groulx, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) emergency coordinator in Gaza.
The army late Friday said rocket fire from Gaza wounded an Israeli civilian in the southern city of Beersheba. It was the first time since December that the city had come under Palestinian rocket attack.
In New York, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant the Palestinians additional rights in the global body and backed their drive for full membership.
Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said the vote was historic, but Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the move told Hamas that “violence pays off.”
Hamas says Israeli-British hostage held in Gaza dead
- Hamas claimed in the video that Popplewell had died on Saturday of his earlier wounds sustained in an Israeli strike
GAZA: Hamas’s armed wing said in a video on Saturday that an Israeli-British hostage held in captivity in Gaza since the October 7 attack had died from wounds sustained from Israeli air strikes.
Earlier on Saturday, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades released an 11-second clip showing captive Nadav Popplewell alive and identifying himself.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group identified him in a statement.
In the video, the footage was superimposed with text in Arabic and Hebrew that read: “Time is running out. Your government is lying.”
The hostage had a black eye in the clip but showed no other visible signs of injuries.
Wearing a white T-shirt and appearing to speak under duress, he introduced himself as 51-year-old Popplewell, from kibbutz Nirim in southern Israel.
Later on Saturday, Hamas released what appeared to be a full version of the video from which the earlier clip was taken.
Hamas claimed in the video that Popplewell had died on Saturday of his earlier wounds.
“Nadav Popplewell, a British citizen, died today after being seriously injured a month ago (due to Zionist air strikes),” a superimposed text in English said in the video below a picture of the hostage shown in a white photo frame.
“His health deteriorated because he did not receive intensive medical care because the enemy has destroyed the Gaza Strip’s hospitals,” Abu Obeida, the spokesman of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a separate statement.
AFP was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari did not mention Popplewell during a televised briefing, but said that troops were still seeking to bring the hostages home.
“Even at this hour, every fighter (soldier) and commander on the battlefield envisions the hostages, sees them, thinks of them, and fights to bring them home,” he said.
Popplewell was kidnapped from his home during Hamas’s October 7 attack along with his mother, Hanna Peri, who was released during a one-week truce in November — the only pause so far in more than seven months of war.
Popplewell’s older brother was killed in the attack.
The video posted Saturday on the Telegram channel of Hamas’s armed wing was the third time in less than a month that the group released footage of captives held in Gaza.
On April 27 Hamas released a video showing two hostages alive — Keith Siegel and Omri Miran.
Three days earlier it broadcast another video showing hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin alive.
The videos come amid growing domestic pressure on the Israeli government to secure the release of the hostages.
“Every sign of life received from the hostages held by Hamas is another cry of distress to the Israeli government and its leaders,” the families forum said in a statement earlier on Saturday.
“We don’t have a moment to spare! You must strive to implement a deal that will bring them all back today.”
Hundreds of protesters meanwhile gathered in the commercial city of Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem calling to strike a deal for the release of the captives.
Hamas and Israel have so far failed to reach a deal despite repeated rounds of indirect negotiations.
Some 250 people were abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel.
Israeli officials say 128 of them are still held captive in the Palestinian territory, including at least 36 who are dead.
The attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
In Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, at least 34,971 people have been killed so far, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
TikTok gang bust lays bare continued criminal abuse of children in Lebanon
- Authorities investigating dozens of individuals who allegedly used the app to groom and sexually abuse children
- Scandal has provoked outrage among Lebanese and led to calls for the app to be banned in the country
DUBAI: Less than a year since the rape and murder of six-year-old Leen Talib in a case that shocked Lebanon, the country has again been rocked by a scandal involving the sexual abuse of children, and this time the social media platform TikTok is caught up in the furore.
Lebanese authorities are investigating a group of 28 to 30 individuals who allegedly used the app to groom children into performing indecent acts. The acts were reportedly filmed for sale online.
Nine suspects have so far been arrested, including TikTok influencer George Moubayyed, who owns a hair salon called Hair Zone in Beirut’s Sabtieh neighborhood, alongside three minors who allegedly used their accounts to lure others.
According to local news media, the gang includes men and women and includes several Syrian and Turkish nationals.
The allegations have provoked outrage across Lebanon and have led to calls for TikTok to be banned in the country.
The Lebanese Internal Security Forces released a statement saying the arrests took place after several children reported being sexually assaulted on camera by members of a predatory gang and being forced to partake in drug use at hotels and seaside chalets.
One teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Arab News that he was groomed by the gang, but was able to avoid being sexually assaulted.
“A few months after I opened my TikTok account, I was sent a message from an account which, at times, would call itself The Agency,” the teenager said. “They explained that they recruit children my age — 15 to 16-year-olds — to publish funny videos that get monetized, and I would receive any money the videos made. There was no (hint) of anything predatory at first.
“That soon changed, however. I started receiving texts from random accounts of a flirtatious nature. I was approached by an anonymous elderly man whose texts would range from normal to borderline flirtatious.
“He offered to buy me a new phone and give me $1,500 in cash if I were to meet him. Rather than coming to my neighborhood and meeting at a public place like a restaurant or coffeehouse, the man insisted on sending me a taxi to a private location. I refused. I later (found out) he was friends with one of the men from The Agency gang.”
Arab News could not independently corroborate the teenager’s allegations.
Judicial authorities and local news media have identified several individuals they believe are linked to the gang, including a lawyer registered with the North Bar Association in Tripoli called Khaled Merheb; Abdo Keysso, the owner of Matrix clothing store; dentist Hussein Allaq; Paul Meouchi; Peter Naffah; and Hassan Singer.
INNUMBERS
• 4.76 million Internet users in Lebanon at the start of 2024.
• 3.92 million TikTok users in Lebanon, mostly in 8-24 age group.
• 1.56 billion Monthly active TikTok users globally as of today.
Gigi Ghanawi, a social media influencer, proceeded to delete all of her social media accounts after being accused by some Lebanese media outlets of being part of the gang. Her accounts had multiple photos of her posing with the accused.
Some of the alleged victims have also claimed that Ghanawi sent them private messages of a provocative nature, asking to meet up with them, but when they arrived at the scheduled location, they were met by gang members. According to the latest reports, Ghanawi has been arrested.
While the investigation is still in its preliminary stages, Attorney General Judge Tanios Saghbini, the public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Mount Lebanon who is presiding over the case, has issued multiple arrest warrants and has requested Interpol’s assistance, as some of the suspects reside abroad — Meouchi is a resident of Sweden, while Naffah has reportedly fled Lebanon.
The teenager who spoke to Arab News said that he was asked to go to a shop called Fashion Zone to pick up the money he was owed from the “funny” videos he had filmed.
“The boutique was situated near George Moubayyed’s Hair Zone salon. You’d have to collect the money in cash. There was no other way to receive it directly. That’s how I came to know Moubayyed.
“Upon meeting me, he suggested that he should cut my hair on camera, saying he’d do it for free and that it would give me more exposure, on account of him having over 400,000 followers on TikTok. He seemed adamant and pushy about the whole thing, then took my number to schedule a date for the appointment.
“Another time I went, I was introduced to Paul Meouchi. Paul would always try to take me out, often citing that he doesn’t live in town, that he resides in Sweden, and that I should really make the most of it while he’s around. I came to sense they all had that pushy attitude about them. They do not take no for an answer, always (asking) to meet for dinner and drinks.
“At one point, I received private messages from anonymous accounts claiming they had pornographic videos and photos of me and they said they would release them if I did not (meet them at) a certain location. I called their bluff, though. I knew there was nothing of that nature. Once I did that, the account deactivated.”
According to Singer’s testimony, the gang would use the children’s own videos to blackmail them into keeping quiet and continuing to be abused by gang members.
Singer alleges he was approached by other minors in his neighborhood who confided in him, and that he was posing as a pedophile in order to gather evidence and try to bring the offenders to justice.
Despite portraying himself as a concerned citizen, several videos have surfaced on social media that reportedly show Singer in questionable settings with minors.
“I was also contacted by Hassan Singer,” the teenager told Arab News. “Hassan pretended to be a friend. He would often ask me out for lunch. He said I should be warned of bad men who wish to do harmful things to little boys and that I should steer clear of them. He also said he supports children my age by giving them money, which I found to be a little odd.
“One time he suggested that, if I ever needed a dentist, I should go to Hussein Allaq’s clinic. He said that to get a good deal and a quick appointment, instead of calling the clinic, I should message Allaq privately, tell him my age and send him some photos of me.”
The teenager also claimed that he was approached on TikTok by an Arab man who offered him $20 for each pornographic image or video sent.
In a statement, Judge Saghbini said the accused had formed “a criminal network for human trafficking and money laundering” and had “solicited minors, via social media networks, mainly TikTok, for sexual purposes.”
He also said members of the network had forced the minors to take drugs before raping them, had taken nude photos of them for the purpose of sale and distribution, and had engaged in “violent and life-threatening practices.”
According to Lebanese police, the videos and photos were intended to be sold on the dark web — online content that can only be accessed by specific software and usually requires authorization of some kind. While it is not illegal to access the dark web, some of its websites engage in criminal activity, which, according to the International Monetary Fund, includes “arms trafficking, drug dealing and the sharing of exploitative content.”
But what about the clearnet — the publicly accessible online content the majority of people use regularly, and which includes the major social media platforms? Does this latest scandal involving the abuse of such platforms make a case for banning the likes of TikTok?
Popular among the “Gen Z” demographic, TikTok — which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance — has 1.56 billion monthly active users globally as of 2024, according to market researchers at DemandSage.
It ranks fifth among the most popular social media platforms, and is almost equally popular with men (52 percent of users) and women (48 percent), with the majority of its users aged 18 to 34.
Despite its popularity, its impact on mass culture, and the many small businesses and influencers who depend on it for sales and publicity, the site has faced opposition around the world.
It was banned in India in June 2020 amid tensions with China. Nepal also announced a decision to ban TikTok in November 2023 and Pakistan has implemented a number of temporary bans since 2020.
TikTok is also under pressure in the West because of concerns over data. It has been banned from government-issued phones in the UK, the US, Canada and New Zealand, and staff at the European Commission have also been banned from using it on work-issued devices.
In April 2024, citing national security, US President Joe Biden signed into law the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which is an effective ban on, or forced sale of, TikTok.
TikTok has filed a lawsuit, calling the act an “extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights” of the company and its 170 million American users.
Could similar restrictions on the app now follow in Lebanon?
According to the Akhbar Al-Yawm news agency, the media office of Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications Johnny Corm issued a statement on May 8 saying a TikTok ban would first require a court order.
“At a time when social media sites are abuzz with discussions and claims related to the blocking of the TikTok application in Lebanon following its use by a gang involved in extorting minors, it is important for the office to confirm that the banning of any application, whether TikTok or others, and the blocking of websites or private applications by the Ministry of Telecommunications requires a court order in accordance with legal protocols,” it said.
“The Ministry of Telecommunications is an executive authority, and (whatever) the Lebanese judiciary (rules) in terms of banning or not banning any application, the ministry is committed to implement exclusively. There is no individual authority for the minister of communications to decide whether to ban any application or not. The ministry has the technical ability to stop and block the TikTok application. In the event of a judicial decision in this regard, the ministry will apply this decision,” the statement continued.
Corm’s office also stressed the need for parents to monitor their children’s online activity and added that there are tools in most applications, including TikTok, that allow parents to block inappropriate content.
Man killed as Lebanese troops raid people smugglers on Syrian border
- Beirut security plan revealed amid fears of illegal weapons, rising crime
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Interior Ministry says it will implement a security plan in Beirut in coming days amid fears over the large number of illegal weapons and growing lawlessness in areas of the city and surrounding neighborhoods.
Security forces have been told to recruit 800 extra personnel as part of the clampdown, the ministry said.
The security plan was announced as Lebanon’s General Security Directorate said it is cracking down on Syrian nationals who remain in the country illegally.
The directorate told Syrian nationals who have violated the country’s entry and residence regulations to “regularize their status and leave Lebanese territory” by heading to border departments and centers immediately.
Those who ignore the order will face legal action, the statement warned.
Lebanese Army Command said on Saturday that an army unit, with support from the General Intelligence Directorate, detained several men in an operation targeting people smugglers in Deir Al-Aachayer in the Bekaa region.
A Syrian national who attacked troops with a spear was shot and later died in hospital from his wounds, the army said.
People traffickers and goods smugglers have long been a problem in the area, which overlaps Syrian territory, according to the army.
Authorities are also cracking down on illegal Syrian-owned institutions and shops, as well as businesses that employ foreign workers in violation of regulations and laws.
Media reports said the General Security Directorate will no longer grant residency permits to Syrian family members sponsored by Lebanese citizens in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said during a meeting in Beirut that the Syrian presence “plays a fundamental role in putting pressure on security in Lebanon.”
He said that after “arduous negotiations,” the UN Refugee Agency revealed almost 1.5 million Syrians were in Lebanon “with unclear reasons for their asylum and entry dates.”
However, Lebanon estimates there are at least 2.3 million Syrian refugees in the country, most of whom are “economic refugees, not security or political refugees,” according to Mawlawi.
He said that Lebanon “cannot tolerate any economic asylum.”
Lebanese authorities have urged citizens not to employ, shelter, or provide accommodation for Syrians residing illegally in in the country. Violators face administrative and judicial procedures.
The General Security Directorate also warned Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR against engaging in paid work outside their designated sectors.
In recent months, there has been a sharp rise in the number of murders, kidnappings, and thefts in Lebanon.
Incidents have been particularly prevalent on the road to Beirut Airport and in the border area with Syria, where illegal crossings are common.
According to Interior Ministry statistics, a significant proportion of the perpetrators are Syrian, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total detainees.
The recent killing of Pascal Sleiman, the coordinator of the Lebanese Forces Party, intensified animosity toward the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
Mawlawi said that Beirut and its suburbs, especially the road to Rafic Hariri International Airport, “will witness a security plan aimed at reassuring the people of Beirut and its residents, and restoring stability.”
The Lebanese government has declared that any Syrian who entered Lebanese territory after 2019 is considered to be illegally present in the country.
It plans to send all those who arrived after 2019 back to Syria, except detainees who may be at risk if they return.
Lebanon received a €1 billion aid package early this month from the European Commission to bolster its border controls and help stem refugee flows to Europe.
The financing will be available from the current year until 2027. However, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said there was a difference between registered refugees and those who entered Lebanon illegally and are facing deportation.
Mikati held talks in Lebanon in early May with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. He pushed for recognition from Europe and the international community that most areas in Syria are now safe, which would facilitate refugees’ return home.
Independent MP Ghassan Skaf said the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon has become an “existential threat, and there is now a consensus about the issue.”
However, he said that dealing with the problem “must be far from populism and hate speech.”
Hamas releases video of Israeli-British hostage held in Gaza
- The video posted on the group’s Telegram channel and showing the hostage speaking under duress
GAZA: Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, on Saturday released a video of a man held hostage in Gaza by Palestinian militants and seen alive in the footage.
The captive, identified by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group as Nadav Popplewell, is seen speaking in the 11-second clip, which is superimposed with text in Arabic and Hebrew that reads: “Time is running out. Your government is lying.”
In the video the hostage, who is also a British national, has a black eye and is seen speaking under duress.
He showed no other visible signs of injuries.
Wearing a white T-shirt, he introduces himself as 51-year-old Popplewell, from kibbutz Nirim in southern Israel.
Popplewell was kidnapped from his home during Hamas’s October 7 attack along with his mother, Hanna Peri, who was released during a one-week truce in November — the only pause so far in more than seven months of war.
Popplewell’s older brother was killed in the attack.
The video posted Saturday on the Telegram channel of Hamas’s armed wing was the third time in less than a month that the group releases footage of captives held in Gaza.
On April 27 Hamas released a video showing two hostages alive — Keith Siegel and Omri Miran.
Three days earlier it broadcast another video showing hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin alive.
The videos come amid growing domestic pressure on the Israeli government to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
“Every sign of life received from the hostages held by Hamas is another cry of distress to the Israeli government and its leaders,” the families’ group said in its statement on Saturday.
“We don’t have a moment to spare! You must strive to implement a deal that will bring them all back today.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are under immense pressure to strike a deal with Hamas, but the two warring sides have so far failed despite repeated rounds of indirect negotiations.
Some 250 people were abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel.
Israeli officials say 128 of them are still held captive in the Palestinian territory, including 36 who are dead.
The attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
In Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, at least 34,971 people have been killed so far, most of them women and children, according the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
