BEIRUT: The Lebanese Cabinet on Saturday approved the deployment of the army south of the Litani River during an exceptional meeting at a military base in Tyre.
The plan is “part of a broader strategy that aims to ensure security in southern areas adjacent to the border with Israel,” Information Minister Ziad Makary said.
He added that the army had begun sending its forces to the south.
“However, the military institution needs additional support in terms of personnel and supplies, as well as modern equipment, to carry out its duties effectively,” Makary said.
The decision came 10 days after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect following a destructive two-month war.
The ministers met in the Benoit Barakat barracks in the coastal city of Tyre, south of the Litani.
They were briefed by Lebanese Army chief Joseph Aoun, who delivered a presentation on strengthening the army’s deployment.
Ministers discussed a draft law to rebuild destroyed homes, put in place an agriculture damage survey mechanism and remove rubble created by Israeli raids in the south, Bekaa, as well as Beirut and its southern suburbs.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to UN Resolution 1701 in a statement delivered before the ministers.
He said that the Lebanese Army would uphold the resolution south of the Litani River, in cooperation and coordination with the UNIFIL, as it is the basis for the ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal from “our occupied land.”
He said: “We are kilometers from the ongoing operations of Israel’s army and its repetitive ceasefire violations.
“We are also near the location of the committee tasked with monitoring the implementation of the arrangements agreed upon under US and French guarantees.”
Mikati called on the international community, primarily the entities overseeing the security arrangements, to put an end to Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
He paid tribute to slain Lebanese Army soldiers and those who sacrificed themselves for the country.
“All the threats and attacks aiming to confuse or push us to change our national beliefs and choices will not scare us,” he said.
“We fully trust the wise army command, which assumes considerable responsibilities with professionalism, discipline and ethics, preserving every inch of our territory and safeguarding our national sovereignty.”
Mikati said that stability in the south and its reconstruction are key to stability in the Middle East, which will only return to security and safety through the implementation of international resolutions.
Makary said after the meeting that the Lebanese Army commander informed the ministers that the debris and ruins of destroyed buildings will be removed, along with the cleaning of areas in the south from cluster bombs.
The army will also deploy along the northern and eastern borders of Syria and take appropriate measures in response to events in the country, he added.
The cabinet allocated 4 trillion Lebanese pounds ($44 million) for the removal of debris, rubble and cluster munitions.
It is part of a comprehensive plan to restore the regions impacted by the war.
Mikati and the ministers, accompanied by Aoun, toured several military centers in Shawakir and Qleileh, as well as the headquarters of the Fifth Brigade in Bayada.
They met military personnel at the Qleileh center who were injured during an Israeli airstrike on the facility.
Also on Saturday, Israeli forces that penetrated the Lebanese border area continued their violations of the ceasefire agreement.
A military drone targeted a motorcycle in the town of Deir Siriane, killing its rider.
The Lebanese Army is observing the activities of Israeli forces in Kfar Kila and Khiam, where soldiers are demolishing buildings and residences.
In other developments, Wadad Halawani, the head of the Committee of Families of Kidnapped and Disappeared in Lebanon, addressed a press conference on Friday.
It followed developments in neighboring Syria and the long-running issue of missing and abducted Lebanese citizens.
Halawani called on the Lebanese state to assume its responsibilities on the issue.
She called for the establishment of a joint emergency committee that includes the relevant ministerial, security and judicial bodies, and the National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared.
Its goal should be to negotiate with Syrian parties to identify released people and ensure their safe return to their families in Lebanon, along with providing health care and psychological support.
“What was circulated on social media concerning the release of a Lebanese among the prisoners who were freed from the Hama central prison stirred the emotions of the families of the missing,” Halawani said.
She added that Ali Hassan Al-Ali from Akkar — arrested by Syrian forces in 1986 and not seen until this week — appeared in a social media clip asking an activist who filmed him how to reach his family in Lebanon.
Halawani added that several Syrian organizations are following up on the issue of detainees and missing people.
The Syrian state had repeatedly denied that Lebanese political prisoners were jailed in the country, she added.
The most recent denial came from President Bashar Assad and former foreign minister Walid Muallem.
PM: ‘Stability and reconstruction of southern Lebanon key to regional stability’
https://arab.news/n85gd
PM: ‘Stability and reconstruction of southern Lebanon key to regional stability’
- Cabinet approves army deployment plan south of Litani
- Govt must take action on Lebanese political prisoners detained in Syria, says committee chief
Kushner’s vision for rebuilding Gaza faces major obstacles
- It remains uncertain whether Hamas will disarm, and Israeli troops fire upon Palestinians in Gaza on a near-daily basis
JERUSALEM: Modern cities with sleek high-rises, a pristine coastline that attracts tourists and a state-of-the-art port that jut into the Mediterranean. This is what Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, says Gaza could become, according to a presentation he gave at an economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.
In his 10-minute speech on Thursday, Kushner claimed it would be possible — if there’s security — to quickly rebuild Gaza’s cities, which are now in ruins after more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
“In the Middle East, they build cities like this ... in three years,” said Kushner, who helped broker the ceasefire in place since October. “And so stuff like this is very doable, if we make it happen.”
That timeline is at odds with what the United Nations and Palestinians expect will be a very long process to rehabilitate Gaza. Across the territory of roughly 2 million people, former apartment blocks are hills of rubble, unexploded ordnance lurks beneath the wreckage, disease spreads because of sewage-tainted water and city streets look like dirt canyons.
The United Nations Office for Project Services says Gaza has more than 60 million tons of rubble, enough to fill nearly 3,000 container ships. That will take over seven years to clear, they say, and then additional time is needed for demining.
Kushner spoke as Trump and an assortment of world leaders gathered to ratify the charter of the Board of Peace, the body that will oversee the ceasefire and reconstruction process.
Here are key takeaways from the presentation, and some questions raised by it:
Reconstruction hinges on security
Kushner said his reconstruction plan would only work if Gaza has “security” — a big “if.”
It remains uncertain whether Hamas will disarm, and Israeli troops fire upon Palestinians in Gaza on a near-daily basis.
Officials from the militant group say they have the right to resist Israeli occupation. But they have said they would consider “freezing” their weapons as part of a process to achieve Palestinian statehood.
Since the latest ceasefire took effect Oct. 10, Israeli troops have killed at least 470 Palestinians in Gaza, including young children and women, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Israel says it has opened fire in response to violations of the ceasefire, but dozens of civilians have been among the dead.
In the face of these challenges, the Board of Peace has been working with Israel on “de-escalation,” Kushner said, and is turning its attention to the demilitarization of Hamas — a process that would be managed by the US-backed Palestinian committee overseeing Gaza.
It’s far from certain that Hamas will yield to the committee, which goes by the acronym NCAG and is envisioned eventually handing over control of Gaza to a reformed Palestinian Authority. Hamas says it will dissolve the government to make way, but has been vague about what will happen to its forces or weapons. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority.
Another factor that could complicate disarmament: the existence of competing armed groups in Gaza, which Kushner’s presentation said would either be dismantled or “integrated into NCAG.” During the war, Israel has supported armed groups and gangs of Palestinians in Gaza in what it says is a move to counter Hamas.
Without security, Kushner said, there would be no way to draw investors to Gaza and or stimulate job growth. The latest joint estimate from the UN, the European Union and the World Bank is that rebuilding Gaza will cost $70 billion.
Reconstruction would not begin in areas that are not fully disarmed, one of Kushner’s slides said.
Kushner’s plan avoids mention of what Palestinians do in meantime
When unveiling his plan for Gaza’s reconstruction, Kushner did not say how demining would be handled or where Gaza’s residents would live as their areas are being rebuilt. At the moment, most families are sheltering in a stretch of land that includes parts of Gaza City and most of Gaza’s coastline.
In Kushner’s vision of a future Gaza, there would be new roads and a new airport — the old one was destroyed by Israel more than 20 years ago — plus a new port, and an area along the coastline designated for “tourism” that is currently where most Palestinians live. The plan calls for eight “residential areas” interspersed with parks, agricultural land and sports facilities.
Also highlighted by Kushner were areas for “advanced manufacturing,” “data centers,” and an “industrial complex,” though it is not clear what industries they would support.
Kushner said construction would first focus on building “workforce housing” in Rafah, a southern city that was decimated during the war and is currently controlled by Israeli troops. He said rubble-clearing and demolition were already underway there.
Kushner did not address whether demining would occur. The United Nations says unexploded shells and missiles are everywhere in Gaza, posing a threat to people searching through rubble to find their relatives, belongings, and kindling.
Rights groups say rubble clearance and demining activities have not begun in earnest in the zone where most Palestinians live because Israel has prevented the entry of heavy machinery.
After Rafah will come the reconstruction of Gaza City, Kushner said, or “New Gaza,” as his slide calls it. The new city could be a place where people will “have great employment,” he said.
Will Israel ever agree to this?
Nomi Bar-Yaacov, an international lawyer and expert in conflict resolution, described the board’s initial concept for redeveloping Gaza as “totally unrealistic” and an indication Trump views it from a real estate developer’s perspective, not a peacemaker’s.
A project with so many high-rise buildings would never be acceptable to Israel because each would provide a clear view of its military bases near the border, said Bar-Yaacov, who is an associate fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy.
What’s more, Kushner’s presentation said the NCAG would eventually hand off oversight of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority after it makes reforms. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adamantly opposed any proposal for postwar Gaza that involves the Palestinian Authority. And even in the West Bank, where it governs, the Palestinian Authority is widely unpopular because of corruption and perceived collaboration with Israel.
