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Qatari emir says Israel wants 'civil war' in Lebanon to halt its attacks

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Monday criticized Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon despite its ceasefire with Hezbollah.

“In Lebanon, the Lebanese government’s acceptance of a U.S. paper is being met with bombardment and assassinations, and Israel is seeking to push it into civil war in order for it to halt its attacks on it,” Sheikh Tamim lamented during an emergency Arab-Islamic summit responding to Israel’s unprecedented airstrike against Hamas officials in Doha.

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After boycotting him in Beirut, Rajji meets Iranian FM in Doha

Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji met Sunday in Qatar with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting that prepared for Monday’s emergency Arab-Islamic summit.

The talks extensively tackled the situations in Lebanon and the region, with Rajji emphasizing upon the Lebanese government’s decision to monopolize arms and extend the state’s sovereignty across the country.

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Aoun meets Qatari ruler ahead of Arab-Islamic summit

President Joseph Aoun met Monday in Doha with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of an emergency Arab-Islamic summit that will be held in Qatar to discuss Israel’s latest attack on Hamas members in the Qatari capital.

During the meeting, Aoun reiterated his condemnation of the Israeli attack and stressed Lebanon’s “solidarity with Qatar and the brotherly Qatari people,” thanking Doha for “the support it has offered to Lebanon during the various circumstances.”

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Lebanon busts international drug network, seizes hashish, captagon

Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar said Monday that authorities dismantled a network that was preparing to smuggle hashish and the illicit stimulant captagon to Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon has faced pressure from Gulf states to counter the production and trafficking of drugs, particularly the amphetamine-like narcotic captagon, for which the conservative monarchies are a major market.

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Mikati faces fraud inquiry in France

French investigators have opened a corruption inquiry into former Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati, lawyers who made the formal complaint said.

Mikati, a 69-year-old billionaire telecoms tycoon, was prime minister until January this year.

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1 killed in Israeli drone strike on car in Burj Qalaway

The Lebanese health ministry said one person was killed on Sunday in an Israeli strike in the south of the country, where Israel frequently says it is targeting Hezbollah members or assets.

"A raid by the Israeli enemy on a car in the town of Burj Qalaway killed one person," the ministry said in a statement.

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Lebanese dancer defies extremist threats and social norms with his sold-out performances

Alexandre Paulikevitch put on his white dress and wig and danced his way to center stage, knowing that the extremist groups who had threatened him before his controversial recital might be waiting for him outside the theater.

The Lebanese dancer's sold-out performance to a cheering crowd at a popular Beirut venue had angered fundamentalist movements ranging from the right-wing Christian Soldiers of God to Sunni Islamists.

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No deal involving Lebanese captives behind Tsurkov's release in Iraq

Sources close to the Iraqi government told AFP on Friday that no deal was made to secure the release of Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov this week, saying her abductors had instead bowed to unspecified "pressure".

Kidnapped in Baghdad in March of 2023, Tsurkov was set free late Tuesday, hours after Israel carried out an unprecedented strike in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders. She was handed over to the U.S. embassy in Iraq, then flown the following day to Israel.

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Weapons handed over from Ain al-Hilweh and al-Beddawi camps

The Lebanese Army was on Saturday handed over five truckloads of weapons from the Ain al-Hilweh camp and another three from the al-Beddawi camp as part of an ongoing disarmament process.

So far only the Fatah Movement has handed over weapons from several camps in Beirut and its suburbs and the southern region of Tyre.

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One killed in Israeli strike in Aitaroun

Lebanese authorities said that one person was killed Friday in an Israeli strike on the country's south near the border, the latest deadly raid this week despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

"An Israeli enemy strike on the town of Aitaroun killed one person," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

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