Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns

Special Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns
This picture shows the destruction in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on December 13, 2024, after Israel withdrew from the area. (AFP)
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Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns

Lebanon has ‘reached the brink of collapse’ despite ceasefire, UN report warns
  • Lebanese army continues deployment in Khiam, opens road to Marjayoun
  • Israeli army claims to have found Kornet missiles, anti-tank launch platform in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army command said its units were being deployed in the border village of Khiam on Friday after entering it on Thursday as a new UN report warned that Lebanon had “reached the brink of collapse” despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement last month to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia also urged a reassessment of priorities, emphasizing that care is a fundamental element in achieving social stability and economic recovery.

In a study titled “Restoring Care, Rebuilding Communities: Path to Recovery for Lebanon,” ESCWA highlighted that the effects of the conflict extended beyond immediate humanitarian needs, affecting health, education, and social infrastructure.

On Friday, Lebanese army units began clearing the main road from the north of the town to the south, connecting Khiam to Marjayoun, by removing rubble and potential explosives left by the Israelis.

The army command said the deployment of its military units was taking place in coordination with the five-member committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire agreement.

Israel completed the withdrawal of its forces from Khiam on Thursday morning.

The Lebanese army command warned “citizens not to approach the area and abide by the instructions of the military units until the completion of the deployment.”

A Lebanese resident who was killed on Thursday when Israeli forces raided Khiam Square a few hours following the Lebanese army’s entry to the area has been identified as Mustafa Awada. Several people were injured in the Israeli assault.

Awada had just broadcast a live video from his phone when an Israeli attack drone killed him and injured many others who were with him in Khiam Square.

The Lebanese army retrieved Awada’s body and transported it to the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital on Friday.

The Israeli army continued its hostilities in the invaded southern area, raiding the coastal town of Naqoura on Friday morning.

An Israeli drone also raided the Tebna area near Baisariyeh.

The Israeli army renewed its warnings to residents of southern Lebanon, instructing them not to move south of an area that includes 50 villages, the houses and infrastructure of which have been almost destroyed.

Lebanon’s southern border with Israel extends 120 km from the west of Naqoura to the east of Shebaa, constituting an area of 30,575 hectares.

There are 30 towns and villages on the borderline, comprising an estimated 32,000 homes.

Some 170,000 people reside in these towns, including around 90,000 permanent residents, who are still displaced.

Official statistics indicate that 70 percent of people in the area Israeli forces invaded are Shiites, while the remaining residents include Sunni Muslims, Druze, and Christians.

Israeli troops are set to withdraw from the area within 60 days since the ceasefire agreement came into force.

Under the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese army is supposed to deploy 6,000 soldiers south of the Litani River to work in coordination with UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL to extend state authority and withdraw unauthorized weapons from the area.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed on Friday in a social media post that Brigade 769 forces discovered and destroyed “Kornet missiles and an anti-tank missile launcher” in southern Lebanon.

Adraee claimed that the forces discovered numerous combat tools, including rocket launchers and Kornet missiles camouflaged in rugged and mountainous areas, in addition to Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition magazines, and other military equipment.

They also found an anti-tank rocket launcher that Hezbollah operatives had used to fire at towns in the Galilee panhandle area over the past year, which was subsequently confiscated.

Adraee said Israeli forces also “discovered a weapons depot containing RPG shells and mortar rounds, all of which were confiscated.”

The troops were conducting field operations to “neutralize threats,” he added.

Also on Friday, explosions were heard in the mountain range and villages of Baalbek-Hermel, in eastern Lebanon.

It was confirmed that these explosions originated from firing ranges located east of Baalbek, where the Lebanese army was detonating missiles left over from the recent Israeli aggression.

The Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria continued to witness heavy traffic for the sixth consecutive day, with families fleeing Syrian territory following the fall of the Assad regime.

The Lebanese General Security prevents the entry of those who do not meet specific conditions while facilitating the passage of Syrian refugees in Lebanon returning to their homeland.

Several Lebanese truck owners, stranded in Daraa, Syria, appealed to Lebanese authorities to urgently intervene to facilitate the passage of their vehicles to Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing.

The truck owners said in their plea that their number is estimated at 70 trucks loaded with cheese and food products destined for Lebanese markets.

They said that delays in procedures and increasing restrictions at the border left the trucks stranded on Syrian land for several days.

The Lebanese army on Friday launched an investigation into a road accident involving 30 Syrian nationals who sustained injuries when the passenger bus they were traveling in overturned and collided with a curb in Akkar, in the far north of Lebanon.

It was revealed that those travelers had entered Lebanon clandestinely through an illegal border crossing along the Nahr Al-Kabir river between Syria and Lebanon.

The bus driver, a Lebanese national, was among 11 injured people who needed to be hospitalized. Some passengers were in critical condition.

In other developments, Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah’s head of liaison and coordination unit, has assured that the movement would support the Lebanese army’s mission as outlined in the ceasefire agreement to the greatest extent possible.

The assurance came at a recent meeting between Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun and Safa, the Central News Agency, known as Al-Markazia, reported on Friday.

The parliament speaker’s adviser, Ahmed Baalbaki, was also present.

Safa previously survived airstrikes targeting him in Beirut in October.


Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says

Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says
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Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says

Gaza heads toward famine, World Food Programme says

UNITED NATIONS: The deputy executive director of the UN World Food Programme has been on whirlwind visits to hotspots in the Middle East and Sudan to assess dire humanitarian situations and escalating demands for food from millions of people trapped or fleeing conflicts.

But Carl Skau said in an interview this week that the Rome-based agency has been forced to make major cuts to the numbers of people it can help because of a lack of funding.

The humanitarian organization is working to diversify its funding, including targeting the private sector, but Skau said, “it’s going to be a tough time ahead, no doubt, with increasing gaps.”

Skau said the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza is dire but he’s equally worried about southern Gaza, “if not even more,” because of the million or so people on the beach north of Khan Younis as winter approaches.

In northern areas, where the UN estimates there are still 65,000 Palestinians and no aid has arrived for more than two months, Skau said Israeli military operations, lawlessness and taking of food aid have prevented access to the needy.

He said some humanitarian convoys have gotten through to the broader northern area including Gaza City, where the UN estimates some 300,000 people are located.

In the south, Skau said, the organization assisted around 1.2 million people in June, July, August and into September. 


UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance

UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance
Updated 21 min 39 sec ago
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UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance

UK’s Starmer says Syria needs ‘non-sectarian’ governance
  • “All leaders agreed that Syria’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty must be respected,” the spokesperson added

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday caution was needed regarding Syria’s prospects after the end of Bashar Assad’s rule and that the country required “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance on behalf of all Syrians.”
“Discussing the unfolding situation in Syria, the Prime Minister said that the fall of Assad’s brutal regime should be welcomed, but we must be cautious about what comes next,” a spokesperson for Starmer said after the prime minister took part in a call with other Group of Seven leaders.
“All leaders agreed that Syria’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty must be respected throughout the transition process and in future,” the spokesperson added.
The language was similar to that in a G7 statement about Syria issued on Thursday.
Starmer also called on G7 leaders to increase military support for Ukraine against Russia’s 33-month-old invasion and tighten sanctions against Moscow.


King Abdullah stresses need for regional stability in call with Greek PM as Jordanians march in solidarity with Gaza

King Abdullah stresses need for regional stability in call with Greek PM as Jordanians march in solidarity with Gaza
Updated 13 December 2024
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King Abdullah stresses need for regional stability in call with Greek PM as Jordanians march in solidarity with Gaza

King Abdullah stresses need for regional stability in call with Greek PM as Jordanians march in solidarity with Gaza
  • Two leaders discussed key regional developments, particularly ongoing crisis in Syria and escalating conflict in Gaza

AMMAN: King Abdullah II of Jordan emphasized the importance of regional stability and of coordinated international efforts during a phone call with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday, according to a report from Petra, the Jordan News Agency.

The two leaders discussed key regional developments, particularly the ongoing crisis in Syria and the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip.

King Abdullah said securing Syria’s stability was essential to strengthening broader regional security and reiterated that the immediate cessation of Israel’s military actions in Gaza was critical to halting the escalation of violence in the region. He also called for the urgent delivery of uninterrupted humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.

The king also highlighted the necessity of maintaining international efforts to uphold the ceasefire in Lebanon, which remains a vital factor in preventing the conflict from spreading further across the region, Petra added.

Also on Friday, a large march was held in downtown Amman following prayers at Al-Husseini Mosque. Participants protested the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, decrying what they described as “global double standards and the international community’s silence on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Petra reported.

Marchers called on Arab nations and the international community to take decisive action to end the aggression and support Palestinian rights. They commended Jordan’s firm opposition to the war on Gaza and advocacy for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Protesters criticized the actions of Israeli forces and also demanded that crossings be opened to facilitate the entry of critical aid.


Arab League condemns Israeli incursion into Syria, calls for UN Security Council action

Arab League condemns Israeli incursion into Syria, calls for UN Security Council action
Updated 13 December 2024
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Arab League condemns Israeli incursion into Syria, calls for UN Security Council action

Arab League condemns Israeli incursion into Syria, calls for UN Security Council action
  • Concerns over Israel’s actions, violation of agreement

CAIRO: The Arab League, which convened an emergency meeting on Thursday, has strongly condemned Israel’s recent incursion into Syria, describing it as a serious threat to regional and international peace, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Matar, Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the organization, attended the meeting in Cairo, which culminated in a resolution denouncing Israel’s incursion into the demilitarized zone near Mount Hermon and the continued occupation of Syrian territories in the Quneitra and Rif Dimashq governorates.

An Arab League statement said that these actions represented a violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and various UN resolutions. The statement further condemned Israeli airstrikes on Syrian civilian and military sites, urging Israel to provide compensation for the resulting damage.

The Arab League called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its activities in the occupied Golan Heights, and emphasized the need to halt the expansion of illegal settlements in the area.

The organization requested in its resolution that the Arab group at the UN, in coordination with Algeria, worked to convene a special session of the UN Security Council. The proposed session would address what the Arab League described as an “escalating threat to international peace and security,” the SPA reported.

The Arab League’s resolution reflects growing regional concerns about Israel’s activities in Syria and the occupied Golan Heights, with Arab states urging stronger international intervention to prevent further destabilization in the region after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government.


Kyiv ready to supply food to Syria as Russia supplies suspended

People walk with food in plastic bags, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar Assad, in Damascus on Thursday.
People walk with food in plastic bags, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar Assad, in Damascus on Thursday.
Updated 13 December 2024
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Kyiv ready to supply food to Syria as Russia supplies suspended

People walk with food in plastic bags, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar Assad, in Damascus on Thursday.
  • Russian wheat supplies to Syria had been suspended over uncertainty about the new government

KYIV: Ukraine, a global producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, is ready to supply food to Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval told Reuters on Friday.
Russian and Syrian sources said earlier that Russian wheat supplies to Syria had been suspended over uncertainty about the new government and payment delays.
Syria imported food from Russia during the Assad era and it is unclear how relations between Damascus and Moscow will take shape under the new government.
“Where it is difficult, we have to be there with our food. We are open to supplying our food and if Syria needs food — then we are there,” Koval told Reuters.
Ukraine’s exports were buffeted by Russia’s February 2022 invasion, which severely reduced shipments via the Black Sea. Ukraine has since broken a de facto sea blockade and revived exports from its southern ports of Odesa.
Kyiv traditionally exports wheat and corn to Middle Eastern countries, but not to Syria.
Traders say that only about 6,000 metric tons of Ukrainian corn reached the Syrian market in the 2023/24 season, out of a total corn export volume of 29.4 million tons.
However, small parcels of Ukrainian-origin grain may have reached Syria from neighboring countries, but not been captured by those statistics, analysts said.
Since the fall of Assad, a close Russian ally, Kyiv has voiced a desire to restore relations with Syria.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Kyiv was ready “to pave the way for the restoration of relations in the future and reaffirm our support for the Syrian people.”