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Arab World

UN Official Visits Algeria to Discuss Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

A demonstrator with tapes over her mouth takes part in a protest against the country's ruling elite and to demand an end to corruption in Algiers, Algeria October 29, 2019. (Reuters)
A demonstrator with tapes over her mouth takes part in a protest against the country's ruling elite and to demand an end to corruption in Algiers, Algeria October 29, 2019. (Reuters)
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UN Official Visits Algeria to Discuss Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

A demonstrator with tapes over her mouth takes part in a protest against the country's ruling elite and to demand an end to corruption in Algiers, Algeria October 29, 2019. (Reuters)
A demonstrator with tapes over her mouth takes part in a protest against the country's ruling elite and to demand an end to corruption in Algiers, Algeria October 29, 2019. (Reuters)

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, will kick off Saturday a 10-day official visit to Algeria to assess compliance with the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly in the country.

The visit was announced on the website of the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), which said Voule will visit Algeria from September 16 to 26 to “assess compliance with the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, including the legal framework relating to these rights, and the challenges and opportunities for the protection of these rights.”

Also, the expert will focus on the ability of civil society organizations, labor unions and political parties to operate freely, as well as measures to protect the right of peaceful assembly.

During the visit, Voule will meet government officials, members of the legislature and the judiciary, monitoring bodies, and members of the UN country team, among others.

He will also meet with civil society actors, journalists, academics, lawyers, trade unions, and political parties.

Later, the UN Rapporteur will prepare a comprehensive report on the visit to the Human Rights Council in June 2024.

On February 22, 2019, millions of Algerians marched through Algiers and other cities to oppose a fifth term for the country’s president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The protesters, known as the Hirak, forced Bouteflika’s resignation in April 2019.

Though the mass marches halted in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, around the second anniversary of Hirak, in February 2021, the protests resumed, but lost momentum three months later, due to repression and a weakening of the movement. Authorities accused the protesters of being led by foreign parties to harm the country’s stability and the army.

On Friday, human rights activists said on their social media accounts that during their meetings with Voule, officials of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) and the Youth Action Rally (RAJ) intend to file a complaint regarding two decisions issued by the Algerian judiciary to dissolve them.

The Administrative Court of Algiers ordered the winding up of LADDH in June 2022 following a complaint filed by the interior ministry, while RAJ was dissolved in line with an October 2021 administrative court decision.

The Interior Ministry had alleged that RAJ is “rallying forces to destabilize the country” and conducting other activities that violate a controversial 2012 law on non-governmental groups.

Meanwhile, it said LADDH, and independent, 38-year-old group, was dissolved because the group has split into three arms competing among themselves, and thus violating local laws.

International human rights organizations, such as the International Federation for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, called on the Algerian government to reverse the decisions to dissolve the two organizations. Meanwhile, several activists from both groups left the country for Europe, where they requested political asylum.

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Arab World

Israel Targets Hezbollah-Linked Financial Interests

A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)
A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)
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Israel Targets Hezbollah-Linked Financial Interests

A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)
A man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat district near the city center (Reuters)

Israel has stepped up its operations against Hezbollah in recent days, escalating on multiple fronts in response to the group’s intensified attacks into Israeli territory and its use of precision and ballistic missiles that have reshaped the battlefield.

Tel Aviv has widened its targets to include civilian-linked interests tied to the group. After striking branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan, a financial institution directly associated with Hezbollah, it launched a series of raids on gas stations operated by Al-Amana in several villages in southern Lebanon.

Israel says the company represents “a key economic infrastructure for Hezbollah, generating millions of dollars in profits,” adding that the stations’ accounts at Al-Qard Al-Hasan are used to finance its activities.

The Israeli military said in a statement that targeting the gas stations “deals a significant blow to Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in Lebanon and to the ability of its operatives to plan attacks.”

It added that the strikes are part of broader efforts to undermine “Hezbollah’s economic entrenchment within the civilian population.”

An escalating path

Ali al-Amin, editor-in-chief of Janoubia, said the targeting of civilian institutions linked to the group “reflects an escalating trajectory in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah, after earlier strikes focused primarily on security and military targets.”

He said this falls within “Israel’s declared efforts to uproot and eliminate the party.”

Al-Amin told Asharq Al-Awsat that the gas station network is “one source of funding and a revenue-generating institution, but certainly not among the main sources.”

An economist, who declined to be named, said Hezbollah’s core funding has historically come from abroad, whether by land, sea, or air, as well as through financial transfers and intermediaries inside Lebanon and overseas.

He said that “with the fall of the regime in Syria, land routes for funds were cut, while US-Israeli maritime control reduced transfers by sea.”

“Funds were also transported by air through Iranian diplomatic missions and Iranian aircraft, whose access to Lebanon has been blocked,” he added.

The source said “institutions linked to the party are still operating, and there are attempts to circumvent circulars issued by Lebanon’s central bank and the Justice Ministry through various intermediaries,” noting that “some of the buildings currently targeted by Israel are used to store funds.”

Direct impact on Hezbollah’s base

Efforts to financially squeeze Hezbollah are directly affecting its support base, which Israel is seeking to pressure, according to Mona Fayad, a political writer and psychology professor at the Lebanese University in Beirut.

She said “Tel Aviv is exerting pressure on this environment through various means, betting on it to mobilize and speak out against Hezbollah.”

Fayad added that “the party’s failure to provide financial support and services to its fighters, their families and its broader base is pushing its leadership to try to turn them into a pressure tool against the state, leading to internal tensions and social unrest that Israel is seeking to fuel.”

Arab World

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Meshaal Contacts Gaza Factions on Fate of Weapons

Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)
Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)
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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Meshaal Contacts Gaza Factions on Fate of Weapons

Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)
Fighters from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Rafah, southern Gaza. (Reuters, file)

Hamas is holding internal talks and consulting Palestinian factions on the fate of weapons in Gaza, an issue central to US President Donald Trump’s plan, which calls for full disarmament and links it to reconstruction.

Talks have slowed in recent weeks amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. Still, Hamas and faction sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’ political bureau abroad and a contender to lead the movement, has contacted leaders in Gaza to discuss the weapons file.

A Hamas source said most contacts took place before the war on Iran, as part of ongoing coordination to forge a unified Palestinian position on “resistance weapons,” their future, and how to preserve core Palestinian principles.

A source from a Gaza faction involved in the consultations said leaders told Meshaal there are no longer “heavy weapons” as defined by Israel, including long or short-range rockets.

Remaining capabilities are limited, including small numbers of anti-armor rounds, improvised explosive devices, and light arms such as Kalashnikov rifles, as well as some DShK machine guns mounted on pickup trucks, which they said do not pose a threat.

The source said factions proposed handing over a limited number of pickup trucks fitted with DShK weapons, which Israel classifies as heavy arms. They also suggested exploring mechanisms with mediators to allow the “resistance” to retain light weapons under guarantees, with mediators overseeing the process in exchange for a long-term truce.

On tunnels, sources said most have been targeted and largely destroyed by Israeli forces, with only a few remaining that do not affect Israel.

Both sources said the ideas remain at the consultation stage, adding the weapons issue has not been formally raised by mediators, though informal contacts have taken place.

Israel insists on the surrender of all weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said he wants Hamas to hand over 60,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

Palestinian sources said such numbers are not available in Gaza, calling the demand unrealistic after a two-year war that devastated the enclave.

Palestinian factions and mediators are awaiting a formal US proposal outlining its disarmament vision, but it has been delayed by the war on Iran. Limited recent contacts with mediators on humanitarian issues could revive discussions.

Leaders and field commanders in Gaza factions insist on discussing any approach to the weapons file and reject imposing terms on the “resistance.” A Hamas source said factions cannot easily give up their weapons after decades of sacrifices.

A Hamas delegation has been in Cairo for about a week discussing ways to ease Gaza’s dire humanitarian situation amid ongoing Israeli breaches, with expectations that mobilization could resume on issues related to a Gaza administrative committee and an international stabilization force.

Arab World

Lebanon’s Electricity Authority Says Israeli Attack Put a Main Substation in South Out of Service

Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon’s Electricity Authority Says Israeli Attack Put a Main Substation in South Out of Service

Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Khiam, a Lebanese village near the border with Israel, amid escalation between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from northern Israel, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The Lebanese state electricity company said on Thursday that Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon earlier that day ‌had put ‌a main ‌power ⁠substation out of service, ⁠a sign of expanding Israeli attacks on Lebanese infrastructure.

In a ⁠statement carried ‌by ‌Lebanon’s state ‌media, the electricity ‌authority said the attack damaged various parts of the ‌station in Bint Jbeil, impacting ⁠power ⁠provision in the city and surrounding towns.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.