عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

G7 Leaders Still Hopeful for Diplomatic Solution in Middle East

Damaged buildings in Dahieh, a southern suburb controlled by Hezbollah, Beirut, Lebanon, 02 October 2024. (EPA)
Damaged buildings in Dahieh, a southern suburb controlled by Hezbollah, Beirut, Lebanon, 02 October 2024. (EPA)
TT
TT

G7 Leaders Still Hopeful for Diplomatic Solution in Middle East

Damaged buildings in Dahieh, a southern suburb controlled by Hezbollah, Beirut, Lebanon, 02 October 2024. (EPA)
Damaged buildings in Dahieh, a southern suburb controlled by Hezbollah, Beirut, Lebanon, 02 October 2024. (EPA)

Group of Seven (G7) leaders expressed "strong concern" on Wednesday over the crisis in the Middle East but said a diplomatic solution was still viable and a region-wide conflict was in no one's interest, a statement said.

Italy holds the rotating G7 presidency and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hosted a leaders' call a day after Israel was attacked by Iran in a missile strike that ramped up fears of a devastating regional war.

An Italian government statement said the leaders condemned Tehran's attack, its biggest ever assault on Israel and agreed to "work jointly to promote a reduction in regional tensions".

The statement made reference to the implementation of UN resolutions 2735 - backing a three-phase plan for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas - and 1701, which halted the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war in south Lebanon.

"Expressing strong concern over the escalation in recent hours, it was reiterated that a region-wide conflict is in no one's interest and that a diplomatic solution is still possible," it added.

Along with Italy, the G7 includes the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Japan.

The conference call came after Meloni had called on the UN Security Council to consider strengthening the mandate of its UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon "in order to ensure the security of the Israel-Lebanon border".

Italy has contributed more than 1,000 soldiers to the mission.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani denied Italian media reports that the government was considering pulling its forces out of the area for security reasons.

"We have assessed all the possibilities...There is no decision to withdraw the Italian contingent from UNIFIL," he told a press conference. But he said it would be "foolish" not to have an evacuation plan ready if the situation deteriorated. 

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
TT
TT

Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)

Lebanon kicked off on Saturday the process of removing weapons in possession of Palestinian factions outside of their refugee camps.

The arms are mainly held by groups allied with the ousted Syrian regime that were based in several areas in the Bekaa, South, Beirut and the border with Syria.

The Lebanese army announced on Saturday that it had taken over three military positions that were affiliated with two Palestinian factions that were close to Bashar al-Assad's former regime.

Two of the positions are in the eastern and western Bekaa and belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command. The third, in Rashaya, belonged to the Fatah al-Intifada group.

A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army intelligence has been working on this issue for some time now and was close to completely resolving it.

The army said it had seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, as well as military gear.

The removal of the weapons outside state control is part of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah and which calls for dismantling all non-licensed military facilities that manufacture weapons in Lebanon.

The agreement also calls for removing all unlicensed weapons starting from regions south of the Litani River.

A similar agreement for the removal of Palestinian weapons was reached in March 2006, but it was never implemented.

A Lebanese security source, however, said that the latest progress in removing the Palestinian weapons has nothing to do with the ceasefire. Rather, it is related to the collapse of Assad's regime.

These factions were loyal to the regime, and they received funding and equipment from it, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hisham Debsi, the Director of the Tatweer Center for Studies, said the positions the army has taken over are tied to factions that are affiliated with Syrian security agencies.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army should have been able to take over these locations as soon as United Nations Security Council resolution 1559 was issued in 2004.

The Palestinian Authority at the time agreed to the handover of weapons outside and inside refugee camps, but Hezbollah objected to the move and said it needed to be discussed at a dialogue among Lebanese political powers, Debsi went on to say.

At the dialogue, Hezbollah agreed to the removal of weapons inside and outside the camps, but it later thwarted the plan, he added.

The current removal of arms is tied to the implementation of resolution 1701 and others, notably 1559. It is also directly connected to the sudden and dramatic toppling of the Assad regime, he explained.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria’s interim rulers, had issued orders for Palestinian groups affiliated with the regime to lay down their arms. “These factions, which had raised the Palestinian flag and done nothing but harm the Palestinian and Lebanese people, no longer have their regional and Lebanese backers,” so they had no choice but to yield to the orders, Debsi said.

The conditions are ripe for the Lebanese state to impose its sovereignty, through the army, across all its territories and end the presence of any Palestinian armed groups outside the refugee camps, he stressed.

Moreover, the state has the right to impose its authority over the camps and remove the weapons there, he remarked.

At the moment, the removal of Palestinian weapons does not appear to be a precursor to Hezbollah laying down its weapons in areas north of the Litani.

Such a move demands a “major political decision that is off the table at the moment,” said the sources.