Mikati Calls for Distancing Lebanon from Syria Developments as Opposition Rejoices at Regime’s Demise

25 June 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati looks on during a meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister Baerbock. (dpa)
25 June 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati looks on during a meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister Baerbock. (dpa)
TT
20

Mikati Calls for Distancing Lebanon from Syria Developments as Opposition Rejoices at Regime’s Demise

25 June 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati looks on during a meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister Baerbock. (dpa)
25 June 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati looks on during a meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister Baerbock. (dpa)

Lebanese officials called on Sunday for distancing Lebanon from the developments in Syria amid the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati carried out a series of contacts with the heads of security agencies, urging them to tighten security measures at the border with Syria and to keep Lebanon away from the fallout of the regime’s ouster.

He also called on the Lebanese people, regardless of their differences, to “act wisely and steer clear of provocative reactions during this sensitive time.”

He contacted the concerned authorities and tasked them to follow up on the case of Lebanese people forcibly detained in Syrian jails.

Meanwhile, opponents of the regime, which for several years suffered at the hands of Damascus’ brutal policies and practices, stressed that the downfall was a victory for justice against oppression.

The regime is widely blamed for the assassination of several of its opponents in Lebanon.

Former head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt telephoned former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, stressing to him that “divine justice has been achieved for slain former PM Rafik al-Hariri and all of the martyrs of the March 14 movement who were killed by Bashar al-Assad's regime.”

For his part, Saad replied: “May God have mercy of Kamal Jumblatt’s soul.”

Walid’s father Kamal was a major Druze political leader who is widely believed to have been assassinated by Damascus in 1977.

Rafik Hariri, Saad’s father, was assassinated in a major car bombing in February 2005. Members of Hezbollah, a regime ally, were indicted in his killing, which the opposition says was ordered by Damascus. His assassination sparked massive anti-regime protests in Lebanon that culminated in Syria withdrawing its forces from the country.

Syrian and Lebanese people celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime on December 8, 2024, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, after the Syrian capital Damascus fell into the hands of anti-government fighters. (AFP)

“Greetings to the Syrian people at long last,” said Jumblatt in a post on the X platform commenting on Assad’s downfall.

In a post on X, head of the Kataeb party MP Samy Gemayel recalled his uncle slain president-elect Bashir Gemayel, whom Syria is accused of killing in 1982, and his brother former minister Pierre, who was gunned down in 2006.

“The oppressor has fallen, and Lebanon and the Kataeb remain. Your names will continue to breathe freedom, sovereignty and independence,” he added.

The Mustaqbal Movement congratulated the Syrian people over the “victory of justice against oppression and for toppling Bashar al-Assad's regime.”

It called on the Lebanese people to maintain national unity during this critical time and to protect the gains of the Syrian people from attempts to create instability.

Marada Movement leader Tony Franjieh, whose father Suleiman is a personal friend of Assad, said on X: “The priority for Syria is the peaceful transition of power and for stability to prevail in the country.”

“Lebanon’s stability has long been closely connected to Syria’s,” he noted.

Head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil, a former ally of Hezbollah, said on X: “The developments in Syria concern Syria. We hope that it will reflect positively on Syria and Lebanon and lead to the rapid return of Syrian refugees back to their homes.”

He also hoped for the establishment of “positive and balanced ties” between Lebanon and Syria that preserve the sovereignty of each country without meddling in the other’s affairs.



Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
TT
20

Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File

War has left Gaza littered with unexploded bombs that will take years to clear, with children drawn to metal casings maimed or even killed when they try to pick them up, a demining expert said.

Nicholas Orr, a former UK military deminer, told AFP after a mission to the war-battered Palestinian territory that "we're losing two people a day to UXO (unexploded ordnance) at the moment."

According to Orr, most of the casualties are children out of school desperate for something to do, searching through the rubble of bombed-out buildings sometimes for lack of better playthings.

"They're bored, they're running around, they find something curious, they play with it, and that's the end," he said.

Among the victims was 15-year-old Ahmed Azzam, who lost his leg to an explosive left in the rubble as he returned to his home in the southern city of Rafah after months of displacement.

"We were inspecting the remains of our home and there was a suspicious object in the rubble," Azzam told AFP.

"I didn't know it was explosive, but suddenly it detonated," he said, causing "severe wounds to both my legs, which led to the amputation of one of them."

He was one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning home during a truce that brought short-lived calm to Gaza after more than 15 months of war, before Israel resumed its bombardment and military operations last month.

For Azzam and other children, the return was marred by the dangers of leftover explosives.

'Attractive to kids'

Demining expert Orr, who was in Gaza for charity Handicap International, said that while no one is safe from the threat posed by unexploded munitions, children are especially vulnerable.

Some ordnance is like "gold to look at, so they're quite attractive to kids", he said.

"You pick that up and that detonates. That's you and your family gone, and the rest of your building."

Another common scenario involved people back from displacement, said Orr, giving an example of "a father of a family who's moved back to his home to reclaim his life, and finds that there's UXO in his garden".

"So he tries to help himself and help his family by moving the UXO, and there's an accident."

With fighting ongoing and humanitarian access limited, little data is available, but in January the UN Mine Action Service said that "between five and 10 percent" of weapons fired into Gaza failed to detonate.

It could take 14 years to make the coastal territory safe from unexploded bombs, the UN agency said.

Alexandra Saieh, head of advocacy for Save The Children, said unexploded ordnance is a common sight in the Gaza Strip, where her charity operates.

"When our teams go on field they see UXOs all the time. Gaza is littered with them," she said.

'Numbers game'

For children who lose limbs from blasts, "the situation is catastrophic", said Saieh, because "child amputees require specialized long-term care... that's just not available in Gaza".

In early March, just before the ceasefire collapsed, Israel blocked all aid from entering Gaza. That included prosthetics that could have helped avoid long-term mobility loss, Saieh said.

Unexploded ordnance comes in various forms, Orr said. In Gaza's north, where ground battles raged for months, there are things like "mortars, grenades, and a lot of bullets".

In Rafah, where air strikes were more intense than ground combat, "it's artillery projectiles, it's airdrop projectiles", which can often weigh dozens of kilograms, he added.

Orr said he was unable to obtain permission to conduct bomb disposal in Gaza, as Israeli aerial surveillance could have mistaken him for a militant attempting to repurpose unexploded ordnance into weapons.

He also said that while awareness-raising could help Gazans manage the threat, the message doesn't always travel fast enough.

"People see each other moving it and think, 'Oh, they've done it, I can get away with it,'" Orr said, warning that it was difficult for a layperson to know which bombs might still explode, insisting it was not worth the risk.

"You're just playing against the odds, it's a numbers game."