Lebanon’s Justice Minister: We Will Not Turn in Salameh 

Lebanon's Central Bank chief Riad Salameh poses during a studio photo session in the capital Beirut, on December 20, 2021. (AFP)
Lebanon's Central Bank chief Riad Salameh poses during a studio photo session in the capital Beirut, on December 20, 2021. (AFP)
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Lebanon’s Justice Minister: We Will Not Turn in Salameh 

Lebanon's Central Bank chief Riad Salameh poses during a studio photo session in the capital Beirut, on December 20, 2021. (AFP)
Lebanon's Central Bank chief Riad Salameh poses during a studio photo session in the capital Beirut, on December 20, 2021. (AFP)

Lebanon’s caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury reiterated on Tuesday his call on Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to resign.

Salameh, 72, is being investigated in Lebanon and at least five European countries for allegedly taking hundreds of millions of dollars from Lebanon's central bank to the detriment of the Lebanese state and laundering the funds abroad.

Germany informed Lebanon it has issued an arrest warrant for Salameh on corruption charges, including forgery, money laundering and embezzlement, a senior judicial source told Reuters on Tuesday.

A second source familiar with the matter confirmed the arrest warrant to Reuters. Salameh has denied any wrongdoing.

It is the second foreign arrest warrant reported to be issued for Salameh within a week. France issued a warrant for his arrest on May 16 after he failed to show up for a Paris court hearing.

On France's request, Interpol issued a Red Notice for Salameh, citing charges of money laundering, fraud and participation in a criminal association with a view to committing offenses punishable by 10 years of imprisonment.

Salameh said he would challenge the French arrest warrant.

Khoury told Asharq Al-Awsat that Salameh must resign given the charges against him. “It is not right for him to remain in his post,” he added.

At the same time, however, the minister said Lebanon will not turn in Salameh to Europe, citing Lebanese laws that bar the handing over of citizens to another country.

Salameh will therefore stand trial in Lebanon, he added.

Salameh was previously charged with corruption in two separate cases in Lebanon, which include formal accusations of embezzlement, money laundering and fraud.

He has denied those charges and said they are politically motivated.

The Munich public prosecutor’s office said it was involved in the case but declined to comment on the arrest warrant. “We never comment on arrest warrants,” a spokesperson for the office told Reuters.

Salameh, who has been central bank governor for 30 years, is facing growing calls to resign ahead of his latest term ending in July, though Lebanon's caretaker Cabinet took no decision on the matter during a Monday meeting that discussed his case.



Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is "facing total collapse" because of Israel's blockade on aid supplies since March 2, the heads of 12 major aid organizations warned Thursday, urging Israel to let them "do our jobs".

Israel has vowed to maintain its blockage on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory, saying it is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held there.

"Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive," the chief executives of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, wrote in a joint statement.

"That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2," they said, adding that "This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation."

A survey of 43 international and Palestinian aid organizations working in Gaza found that almost all have suspended or drastically cut services since a ceasefire ended on March 18, "with widespread and indiscriminate bombing making it extremely dangerous to move around", the NGOs said.

"Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza," they said. "Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point."

"We call on all parties to guarantee the safety of our staff and to allow the safe, unfettered access of aid into and across Gaza through all entry points, and for world leaders to oppose further restrictions."

Israel's renewed assault has killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.