BEIRUT: Lebanon’s interior minister said on Thursday that Uber driver suspected of murdering a British embassy worker last week had served time in prison, and he accused the company of not checking criminal records of its drivers.
The body of Rebecca Dykes was found strangled on Saturday next to a highway outside Beirut. Police detained a suspect on Monday and said the crime was not politically motivated.
Minister Nohad Machnouk said the driver had three priors on his judicial record involving drugs and had been imprisoned on that basis.
“This company, when it hires drivers, and lets them work within its organization, does not check their priors,” he said at a news conference.
An Uber spokesperson said all drivers the company uses in Lebanon are fully licensed by the government and must have a clear judicial record.
The spokesperson said a copy of the driver’s judicial record published by local media, showing no judgments against the driver, was accurate. Uber confirmed in an email that he was a licensed taxi driver with a clean background check.
Lebanon’s interior minister accuses Uber of not checking records
Lebanon’s interior minister accuses Uber of not checking records
Senior Hamas figure among 7 killed in Israeli airstrike
- Pair of Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza's Deir Al-Balah, killing a Hamas commander
- Boy, aged 16, among the dead
CAIRO: A senior figure in the armed wing of Hamas was among seven people killed on Thursday in a pair of Israeli airstrikes in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas source said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident. The Hamas source said one of the dead was Mohammed Al-Holy, a local commander in the group’s armed wing in Deir Al-Balah.
Hamas condemned the strikes on the Al-Holy family, in a statement that did not mention Mohammed or his role in the group. It accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal in place since October, and attempting to reignite the conflict.
Health officials said the six other dead in the incident included a 16-year-old.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire and remain far apart from each other on key issues, despite the United States announcing the start of the agreement’s second phase on Wednesday.
More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since the ceasefire took effect in October.
Israel has razed buildings and ordered residents out of more than half of Gaza where its troops remain. Nearly all of the territory’s more than 2 million people now live in makeshift homes or damaged buildings in a sliver of territory where Israeli troops have withdrawn and Hamas has reasserted control.
The United Nations children’s agency said on Tuesday that over 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, including victims of drone and quadcopter attacks.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza in the wake of an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023 which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 71,000 people, according to health authorities in the strip, and left much of Gaza in ruins.
