Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for parliament to convene to elect a president next month to break a gridlock of over two years and reactivate the country's crippled state institutions.
In remarks published Monday in al-Joumhouria newspaper, Berri said he took the initiative without any foreign coordination.
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The Israeli army is committed to the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon and the 60-day period is “a gradual phase to ensure the elimination of Hezbollah's threat,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Haggari said on Monday.
Full StoryThe U.S. has joined France in accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire with Lebanon, Israeli reports said on Monday.
Washington has especially complained over the use of drones over Beirut and the message was conveyed to Israeli officials through U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein, the reports said.
Full StorySince a fragile ceasefire went into effect last week, Israel has violated the agreement dozens of times. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri counts more than 52.
The number of violations has risen since Speaker Berri's interview with al-Joumhouria newspaper was published Monday, on the sixth day of the truce. An Israeli drone strike wounded Monday a Lebanese army soldier in the eastern region of Hermel, while another drone targeted a motorcycle in Marjaayoun, killing a State Security agent on duty.
Full StoryU.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, Massad Boulos, has said that Trump has “honored his promise” as to working on achieving peace in the Middle East once elected, noting that the ceasefire in Lebanon was an “achievement” made by U.S. President Joe Biden “in cooperation” with Trump.
“It is our duty to follow up on the ceasefire agreement and we hope it will be quickly implemented the same way it was quickly reached,” Boulos added, in an interview with LBCI television.
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U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers of the Special Operations Command Central arrived in Beirut on November 27 and will serve as a co-chair, alongside Senior Advisor to the President, Amos Hochstein, for the implementation and monitoring mechanism of the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon, the U.S. Central Command said.
Full StoryHezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday declared a "great victory" against Israel in his first speech since a ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon.
"I have decided to declare... officially and clearly that we are facing a great victory that surpasses that of July 2006," Qassem said, adding: "We won because we prevented the enemy from destroying Hezbollah... (and) from annihilating or weakening the resistance."
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Some in Israel’s security establishment are estimating the chances of a resumption of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon at 50%, according to Israel’s Ynet news portal.
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Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil has said that Israel has failed to achieve victory in its war on Lebanon, although the country “lost a lot of leaders, icons, martyrs and infrastructure.”
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French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an “immediate” halt to “all actions that violate” the ceasefire that has been in effect in Lebanon since Wednesday, the Elysee Palace said on Friday.
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