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Lebanon Election
Firing by Israeli troops killed two people and wounded 17 on Monday in the second day of deadly protests in southern Lebanon, health officials said, as residents displaced by the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah attempted to return to villages where Israeli troops remain. The shooting came a day after 24 people were killed and more than 130 wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on protesters who breached roadblocks set up along the border. Under a US-brokered ceasefire on Nov 27, Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah was to move north of the Litani River by Jan 26. While the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers had already deployed in several villages before the deadline, Israel remained in over a dozen villages. The United States and Lebanon announced later on Sunday that the deadline to meet the ceasefire terms had been extended to Feb 18. In a pre-recorded speech aired Monday, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said his group won't accept the ...
Lebanon's prime minister-designate vowed on Tuesday to work on building a modern state in the crisis-hit country, saying his priorities will be to rebuild the destruction caused by a yearlong war with Israel and work on pulling the small nation out of its historic economic meltdown. Nawaf Salam spoke after meeting with Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun, who himself took office last week. With the nomination of Salam and confirmation of Aoun, Lebanon, which has been run by a caretaker administration, now has a new government in waiting for the first time in two years. After the meeting, Salam said he will not marginalize any side in Lebanon, an apparent reference to the Hezbollah militant group, which in past years opposed his appointment as prime minister and this year indicated its preference for another candidate. Hezbollah has been weakened by its 14-month war with Israel, which ended in late November when a US-brokered 60-day ceasefire went into effect. The war left 4,000 peop
Lebanon's parliament voted Thursday to elect the country's army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum. The session was the legislature's 13th attempt to elect a successor to former President Michel Aoun - no relation to the army commander - whose term ended in October 2022. The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon's leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction. Aoun was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need to ensure that Israel withdraws its forces from southern Lebanon as stipulated in the agreement and to fund the post-war rebuilding.