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Lebanon: Gov’t Resorts to ‘Diplomacy’ after Demands to Expel Swedish Ambassador

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard in front of a building of the Sweden embassy as protests erupt outside mosques against the Quran desecration, in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 July 2023. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanese army soldiers stand guard in front of a building of the Sweden embassy as protests erupt outside mosques against the Quran desecration, in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 July 2023. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Lebanon: Gov’t Resorts to ‘Diplomacy’ after Demands to Expel Swedish Ambassador

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard in front of a building of the Sweden embassy as protests erupt outside mosques against the Quran desecration, in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 July 2023. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanese army soldiers stand guard in front of a building of the Sweden embassy as protests erupt outside mosques against the Quran desecration, in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 July 2023. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanon’s government is seeking to avoid an escalation with Sweden over demands in Beirut to expel the Swedish ambassador and summon the Lebanese ambassador from Stockholm as an objection to the burning of the Quran.

Last week, a photo of the Swedish Ambassador to Lebanon, Ann Dismorr, circulated on social media, showing the diplomat departing Beirut after calls by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah to expel her.

Lebanon’s foreign ministry didn’t issue any statement to clarify whether the ambassador was expelled.

Yet, diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that she “left on vacation”, stressing that “no measures were taken against her” and Lebanon’s ambassador to Sweden wasn’t summoned either.

Nasrallah had called on the Arab and Islamic nations to demand their governments expel Sweden's ambassadors and withdraw ambassadors from Sweden.

He further urged the Lebanese government to withdraw the ambassador or chargé d'affaires from Sweden and to expel the Swedish ambassador from Lebanon.

The deputy head of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, Ali Damoush, demanded that the state “bear full responsibility” and “expel the Swedish ambassador to Lebanon as well as withdraw the Lebanese ambassador from Sweden.”

Supporters of Hezbollah held on Friday a sit-in outside the Swedish Embassy in Beirut.

During a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom expressed on Sunday Sweden’s regret over the desecration of the Quran and the insult to Islamic beliefs and symbols.

Bou Habib welcomed the position and encouraged Sweden to take additional practical steps to reduce feelings of growing hatred and Islamophobia.

He also affirmed Lebanon's respect for international agreements, particularly the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and its commitment to taking all possible measures to ensure the safety of Swedish interests and citizens within its borders.

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Arab World

Egypt Urges Int’l Support for Lebanese Army to Ensure State Exclusivity over Arms

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (3rd L) speaks before representatives of participating countries during the preparatory meeting for the international conference in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Cairo on February 24, 2026. (AFP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (3rd L) speaks before representatives of participating countries during the preparatory meeting for the international conference in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Cairo on February 24, 2026. (AFP)
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Egypt Urges Int’l Support for Lebanese Army to Ensure State Exclusivity over Arms

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (3rd L) speaks before representatives of participating countries during the preparatory meeting for the international conference in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Cairo on February 24, 2026. (AFP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (3rd L) speaks before representatives of participating countries during the preparatory meeting for the international conference in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Cairo on February 24, 2026. (AFP)

Egypt on Tuesday urged the international community to better support Lebanon's armed forces as the country moves forward with a plan to disarm Hezbollah and bring all weapons under state control. 

Speaking at a preparatory meeting in Cairo ahead of next month's Paris conference in support of the Lebanese army, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty praised "the success of the Lebanese army in completing the first phase of the plan". 

"This achievement reflects the efficiency of the military institution and requires intensifying international support to complete the remaining phases of the plan," Abdelatty said. 

Lebanon's government last year committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was badly weakened in a recent war with Israel, and tasked the army with drawing up a plan to do so. 

Lebanon has since received promises of support, amid a shortage of equipment, personnel and technical capabilities needed to carry out the army's mission. 

Though its capabilities are limited, the military has worked to dismantle Hezbollah facilities and tunnels and confiscate weapons in the last few months. 

It declared in January the completion of the first phase of its plan, which tackled the area south of the Litani river, located around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Israel. 

Lebanon's military now intends to tackle the area north of the river as the second phase of its plan, having said last week that it would need at least four months to finish the job. 

Abdelatty said Tuesday's meeting aimed "to enable the Lebanese state to ensure that all weapons are held exclusively by the state". 

The meeting brought together Lebanon's top security chiefs, including Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal and Internal Security Forces Director-General Major General Raed Abdallah. 

They were joined by representatives of the Quintet Committee on Lebanon, among them Qatar's state minister for foreign affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian and Saudi Arabia's envoy to Beirut Prince Yazid bin Farhan, along with senior officials from the United States. 

At a separate meeting with Le Drian, Abdelatty stressed the need for what he described as a comprehensive international approach to the crisis in Lebanon. 

"There is no path to restoring stability except by obliging Israel to immediately halt its aggression" and "fully withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories," he said. 

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army's progress as insufficient, and has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the group. 

Arab World

About 6.5 Million People in Somalia Face Acute Hunger Due to Drought, Govt and UN Say

Lime is displayed for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Lime is displayed for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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About 6.5 Million People in Somalia Face Acute Hunger Due to Drought, Govt and UN Say

Lime is displayed for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Lime is displayed for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia February 18, 2026. (Reuters)

About 6.5 million people in Somalia ‌face acute hunger due to drought, the government and the United Nations said on Tuesday, sounding the alarm days after the UN's food agency warned that food aid could grind to a halt by April without new funding.

Somalia declared a national drought emergency in November after years of failed rains, and other countries in the region have also been hit.

More than a third of those facing acute malnutrition are children, Somalia's government and the United Nations Somalia said in a joint statement. The crisis has forced tens of thousands of ‌people to ‌flee their homes, with many crowding into camps ‌in ⁠Mogadishu and other ⁠cities.

"The drought ... has deepened alarmingly, with soaring water prices, limited food supplies, dying livestock, and very little humanitarian funding," George Conway, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement.

Hawo Abdi said she lost two children to illness after the drought laid waste to her homeland in Somalia's Bay region.

"When I saw that the suffering ⁠was getting worse, I fled my home and ‌came to ... Mogadishu," she told Reuters ‌from her shelter on the outskirts of the capital.

Last week, the UN World Food Program put the number of those facing acute hunger ‌at 4.4 million, and said it had already cut back its assistance to just over 600,000 people from 2.2 million earlier this year.

It was not clear whether the new figure reflected a sharp increase in those ‌at risk or different counting methods.

The government and United Nations figures tally with those also released on ⁠Tuesday by ⁠the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which sets the global standard for determining the severity of a food crisis.

While rainfall in the April to June season could offer some relief, some 5.5 million people were expected to remain in the crisis level or worse, with 1.6 million people in the emergency level, the statement said.

Abdiyo Ali was forced to abandon her farm in the Lower Shabelle region.

"Our farms were destroyed, our livestock died, and water sources became too far away. We have nothing left to bring with us," Ali told Reuters last week while preparing her food in a displaced people's camp outside Mogadishu.

Arab World

Lebanon Fears Israeli Strikes if Iran Situation Escalates

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi addresses the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi addresses the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
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Lebanon Fears Israeli Strikes if Iran Situation Escalates

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi addresses the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi addresses the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)

Lebanon's foreign minister said Tuesday his country feared its infrastructure could be hit by Israeli strikes if the situation with Iran escalates, as Israel has intensified its attacks on Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

Also on Tuesday, Lebanon's army accused the Israeli military of firing near a position it was setting up in the country's south, saying it had instructed troops to return fire.

"There are signs that the Israelis could strike very hard in the event of an escalation, potentially including strategic infrastructure such as the airport," foreign minister Youssef Raggi told reporters in Geneva.

His comments came amid a massive US military buildup in the Middle East that suggested Washington was prepared to wage a potentially sustained campaign against Iran.

Iran vowed on Monday to retaliate "ferociously" against any attack from the United States, and repeated its warning of a regional conflagration in response to President Donald Trump's latest threat of strikes.

"We are currently conducting diplomatic efforts to request that, even in the event of retaliation, Lebanese civilian infrastructure not be targeted," Raggi said.

He stressed that his country's leadership had been very clear: "This war does not concern us."

A Lebanese official who requested anonymity said "what the Lebanese fear is a chain reaction: an American strike against Iran, a Hezbollah retaliatory strike against Israel, followed by a massive Israeli response."

- Israeli strikes -

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Iran-backed Hezbollah, usually saying it was targeting the group.

Last Friday, Israel carried out deadly strikes on what it called Hezbollah positions in eastern Lebanon and targets linked to the Palestinian group Hamas in the south.

Hezbollah said Saturday that eight of its fighters had been killed, and vowed "resistance".

Its leader Sheikh Naim Qassem stated last month that any attack on Tehran would also be an attack on Hezbollah.

On Monday, Washington ordered non-emergency personnel to leave its embassy in Lebanon's capital Beirut as anticipation rose of a possible conflict with Iran.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's army said it was "establishing a new observation post on the southern border" when "the area surrounding the post was subjected to gunfire from the Israeli side".

"The army command issued orders to reinforce the post, remain there, and return fire."

On the same day in Cairo, a preparatory meeting was held ahead of a conference in Paris next month to back Lebanon's army, which is facing heavy pressure from Washington and Israel to disarm Hezbollah.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that Tuesday's meeting aimed "to enable the Lebanese state to ensure that all weapons are held exclusively by the state".

Lebanon's government last year committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was badly weakened in a recent war with Israel, and tasked the army with drawing up a plan to do so.

The army, which has limited capabilities, declared in January the completion of the first phase of its plan near the border with Israel.

It said last week it would need at least four months to complete the second phase.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army's progress as insufficient.