Spotlight
Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has warned the annual international conference on Syrian refugees in Brussels that Lebanon has “reached the point of no return” in its Syrian refugee crisis.
“We have reached the point of no return due to the increase of incidents, disturbances, skirmishes, thefts, crimes and organized crime gangs, the tools of which are largely displaced Syrians, which has united the Lebanese over rejecting the ‘business as usual or more of the same’ policy,” Bou Habib told the conferees.
Full StoryAn Israeli strike targeting a motorcycle in southern Lebanon hit next to a hospital entrance Monday, killing the motorcycle driver and a hospital security guard and wounding several civilians nearby, local health officials said.
It was not immediately clear who the driver was or why he was targeted in the strike in the town of Bint Jbeil.
Full StoryA Beirut design fair has made a comeback after Lebanon's economic meltdown forced a four-year hiatus, with some pieces on display in spaces devastated in a deadly 2020 port explosion.
We Design Beirut, which ended Sunday, exhibited work from more than 150 designers and artisans for four days in several locations in the Lebanese capital.
Full StoryU.S. mediator Amos Hochstein is visiting many countries in a bid to pacify the Lebanon-Israel border clashes, Asharq al-Awsat said Monday.
Sources told the daily that Hochstein is holding his meetings away from the spotlight and has managed to set the main headlines for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
Full StorySupporters of Lebanese parties, Lebanese expats and a number of Lebanese MPs staged a protest Monday in Brussels ahead of an annual international conference on Syrian refugees.
The Lebanese protesters voiced rejection of perceived attempts to “keep the Syrians in Lebanon.”
Full StoryFrench President's Special Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, was expected to arrive in Beirut on a diplomatic visit Tuesday in a bid to break the presidential deadlock in the crisis-hit country.
Le Drian will meet with Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said, adding that Berri will respond to a Quintet's statement after meeting Le Drian.
Full StoryMarada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh has suggested that the country’s top three Christian leaders nominate themselves for the presidency as an exit from the current presidential crisis, referring to himself, Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
“The balances have not changed and no one can elect a president today before a settlement in the region, which will reflect positively on Lebanon,” Franjieh added, in an interview on al-Jadeed TV.
Full StoryIn recent weeks, the Israeli army’s 146th Division and the 205th Reserve Armored Brigade held a divisional and brigade exercise simulating “a maneuver in Lebanon,” the Israeli army said on Monday.
“The exercise simulated combat scenarios in the northern arena, the rapid deployment of forces in the field, the functioning of the division and brigade headquarters and the readiness of the forces for an attack,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
Full StoryOne person was killed and several civilians were injured Monday in an Israeli drone strike on a motorbike outside the Salah Ghandour Hospital in the southern town of Bint Jbeil.
"An enemy drone" targeted "a motorcycle near the Salah Ghandour hospital in the town of Bint Jbeil", killing the motorcycle driver and wounding others, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, without specifying whether they were civilians.
Full StoryAn Israeli drone struck Monday a motorbike in the southern town of Bint Jbeil as Hezbollah targeted a building used by Israeli soldiers in Margaliot and soldiers and equipment in the Malkia post.
The group said it has carried out a combined drone, missile and artillery attack on al-Malkia, using suicide drones, guided missiles and artillery shells.
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