France Warns Israel of Military Action in Lebanon

Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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France Warns Israel of Military Action in Lebanon

Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)

France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne delivered a direct message from President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Israel, asserting France's pivotal role in any prospective political solution in Lebanon, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.
Tensions flared during the meeting between Sejourne and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, primarily over concerns regarding Lebanon and the hostages in Gaza.
The Arab World Press noted France's failure to provide evidence confirming the delivery of medicines to Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Sejourne issued a warning in response to Katz's declaration that time is running out for a diplomatic solution in southern Lebanon, with Israel prepared to take military action to repatriate evacuated residents.
He cautioned that France would take military measures in Lebanon to safeguard approximately 20,000 French nationals residing there in the event of conflict with Hezbollah.
Sejourne's visit to Israel included a series of high-level political meetings.
Katz urged Sejourne to pressure Qatar for evidence that medications reached hostages in Gaza.
In mid-January, France and Qatar were part of a deal to purchase and send medication to Israeli hostages held in Gaza, but Israel has not been able to verify that they reached the captives.
Unnamed sources revealed that the French Foreign Minister reiterated his country's ongoing endeavors on the matter, stressing that if the medications did not reach the hostages, there would be "grave repercussions," as per reports from the broadcasting authority.



Muscat Hosts New Round of Yemeni Consultations for Release of Prisoners

The delegation of the Yemeni government and the joint negotiating team of the coalition countries before the start of consultations with the Houthi group on Sunday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The delegation of the Yemeni government and the joint negotiating team of the coalition countries before the start of consultations with the Houthi group on Sunday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Muscat Hosts New Round of Yemeni Consultations for Release of Prisoners

The delegation of the Yemeni government and the joint negotiating team of the coalition countries before the start of consultations with the Houthi group on Sunday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The delegation of the Yemeni government and the joint negotiating team of the coalition countries before the start of consultations with the Houthi group on Sunday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Under the auspices of the office of the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Muscat hosted on Sunday consultations between the internationally-recognized Yemeni government and the Houthi group over the exchange of prisoners, detainees and forcibly disappeared persons.
Majed Fadael, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights and the official spokesman for the government delegation, expected that the consultations would continue for about 10 days.
In exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said: “Our basic demand is the release of all prisoners and abductees without discrimination...”
He continued: “We have clear and frank directives from our political leadership regarding this, and that the government delegation deal with full responsibility and commitment to this humanitarian file.”
During the past years, the United Nations, in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, succeeded in completing two exchange deals between the two warring sides. More than a thousand persons were released in the first swap deal and around 900 in the second.
For his part, Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada, head of the Houthi delegation, expressed his hope that the round of consultations would be “successful, and that a new exchange deal would be agreed upon.”
He wrote on his X account: “We arrived in the Omani capital, Muscat, to attend a new round of negotiations on the prisoner file, under the auspices of the United Nations, and we hope that it will be successful and that a new exchange deal will be reached.”
In turn, the Presidential Leadership Council affirmed its keenness and support for the efforts and endeavors aimed at ending the suffering of detainees, kidnapped and disappeared persons.