BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister designate Saad Al-Hariri on Sunday said that his country could not be rescued from its current crisis without the support of Arab countries and the international community.
Gulf states have long channelled funds into Lebanon’s fragile economy, but they are alarmed by the rising influence of Hezbollah, a powerful group backed by their arch-rival, Iran, and so far appear loath to ease Beirut’s worst financial crisis in decades.
“There is no way out of the crisis ... without a deep reconciliation with our Arab brothers and an end to using the country as a staging point for attacking Gulf countries and threatening their interests,” Hariri said in a televised speech marking 16 years since the assassination of his father, ex-premier Rafik Al-Hariri.
A UN backed tribunal in December convicted a Hezbollah member of conspiring to kill Rafik Al-Hariri in a 2005 bombing. Hezbollah has denied any links to the attack.
Saad Al-Hariri, a former prime minister himself, was given the task of forming a government in October but is struggling so far to cobble together a cabinet to share power with all Lebanese parties, including Hezbollah.
After a meeting with President Michel Aoun on Friday, Hariri said there had been no progress on the formation of a government.
Under a sectarian power-sharing system, Lebanon’s president must be a Maronite Christian and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim. President Aoun is an ally of Hezbollah, listed as a terrorist group by the United States.
On Sunday Hariri blamed Aoun for impeding progress, saying he had visited the president 16 times since his nomination as prime minister and proposed names to no avail.
France has been spearheading efforts to rescue Lebanon from its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
A new government is the first step on a French roadmap that envisages a cabinet that would take steps to tackle endemic corruption and implement reforms needed to trigger billions of dollars of international aid to fix the economy, which has been crushed by a mountain of debt.
“In all my communications there is a readiness and an enthusiasm to help Lebanon, to stop the collapse and rebuild Beirut,” Hariri said.
“But it is all waiting for the push of a button and that button is government formation.”
Lebanon’s Hariri sees no way out of crisis without Arab support
https://arab.news/8pcxa
Lebanon’s Hariri sees no way out of crisis without Arab support
- Lebanon seeks rescue from financial meltdown
- Hariri says Lebanon cannot be staging point for Gulf attacks
UN force in Lebanon says peacekeeper wounded by Israeli fire
- UNIFIL reiterated its call to the Israeli army to “cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working for peace and stability along the Blue Line”
BEIRUT, Lebanon: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said an Israeli attack near their position in the country’s south wounded a peacekeeper on Friday, reiterating a call for Israel to “cease aggressive behavior.”
It is the latest incident reported by the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and has been working with Lebanon’s army to support a year-old truce between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
“This morning, heavy machine gunfire from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) positions south of the Blue Line impacted close to a UNIFIL patrol inspecting a roadblock in the village of Bastarra. The gunfire followed a grenade explosion nearby,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
The force added that “the sound of the gunfire and the explosion left one peacekeeper slightly injured with ear concussion.”
Also on Friday, UNIFIL said “another patrol carrying out a routine operational task also reported machine gunfire from the Israeli side in immediate proximity to their position” in Kfarshuba, south Lebanon.
The peacekeeping force said it had informed the Israel army of its activities in these areas.
Earlier this month, UNIFIL said Israeli forces fired on its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
Last month it said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops in the south, while Israel’s military said it mistook blue helmets for “suspects” and fired warning shots.
In October, UNIFIL said one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country’s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month.
“Attacks on or near peacekeepers are serious violations of Security Council resolution 1701,” the peacekeeping force added, referring to the 2006 resolution that formed the basis of the November 2024 truce.
UNIFIL reiterated its call to the Israeli army to “cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working for peace and stability along the Blue Line.”
Israel carries out regular attacks on Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting sites and operatives belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming.
It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
