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Hezbollah’s top lawmaker Mohammed Raad has said that his party’s latest military drill was aimed at telling Israel that Lebanon’s presidential crisis will not divert Hezbollah’s attention from confronting Israel’s “aggression against our sovereignty.”
“Some said that this was addressed to the Lebanese interior, knowing that the Lebanese interior does not need resistance, but rather dialogue, understanding and the rhetoric of tolerance among the sons of the same country,” Raad added.
Full StoryIsraeli army chief Herzi Halevi on Tuesday announced that Hezbollah is “very deterred from an all-out war against Israel.”
“It thinks it understands how we think. This thought brings it to dare and challenge us where it is sure it will not lead to war. I see this as a good way to create surprises if necessary,” Halevi said.
Full StoryKataeb leader Sami Gemayel called Tuesday the Free Patriotic Movement to go back to what it was before 2005.
"On March 14, 2005, you resisted the Syrian occupation and fought for the implementation of international resolutions," Gemayel said to the FPM.
Full StoryLebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Tuesday the Shiite Duo and the Free Patriotic Movement of "irresponsibility" in dealing with public affairs.
Geagea blamed the FPM and the Axis of Defiance for the crisis, the banking and monetary collapse, and for the resulting dire living conditions.
Full StoryIsrael’s Military Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva has noted that Israel’s confrontation with Iran's proxies has become a “direct” confrontation with the Islamic republic itself.
He further stated that the probability of an escalation that could degenerate into a full-scale war is not low. "Exercising measured and calculated force, as part of Israel's national interest, is the way to deal with this while strengthening alliances in the region," he said.
Full StoryThe United States has voiced support for caretaker PM Najib Mikati’s criticism of the military drill that Hezbollah has staged in south Lebanon.
“Hezbollah is more concerned with its own interests and those of its patron Iran than what is best for the Lebanese people. And I just want to note something that the prime minister of Lebanon said, which is the event constituted a diminution of Lebanon’s authority and sovereignty, and add that moreover, it threatens Lebanon’s security and stability,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press briefing.
Full StoryCentral Bank Governor Riad Salameh will file Tuesday an appeal against an Interpol red notice issued against him in France over corruption charges.
Public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat on Monday summoned Salameh for questioning following the international arrest warrant.
Full StoryThe current efforts that are being exerted by Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab might lead to calling for dialogue in parliament within a week or 10 days, MTV reported.
“Representatives of all blocs would take part in the consultations to discuss a basket and a roadmap,” the TV network said.
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The Ambassador of Italy to Lebanon, Nicoletta Bombardiere, and the Director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Affairs in Lebanon, Dr. Dorothee Klaus, have signed a one year agreement for an additional contribution of EUR 2 million to support the most vulnerable Palestine Refugees in Lebanon, in particular persons with disabilities, whose dire situation and difficult access to services was further compounded by the socio-economic crisis hitting Lebanon since 2019, UNRWA said.
Full StoryLebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday said the military drill that Hezbollah carried out Sunday in the South is “totally rejected at a time that the Lebanese are struggling night and day and every moment to rebuild their state and regain Arab and international confidence in this state.”
“Hezbollah addressed a clear message to all Lebanese and the Arab and international communities by saying that ‘no matter how much you try and seek, we will not allow the rise of a real state in Lebanon,’” Geagea said.
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