Lebanon Warns Hamas against Acts That Harm Its Security

 Civil defense workers and Lebanese soldiers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
Civil defense workers and Lebanese soldiers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
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Lebanon Warns Hamas against Acts That Harm Its Security

 Civil defense workers and Lebanese soldiers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
Civil defense workers and Lebanese soldiers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)

Lebanon's top security body on Friday warned Hamas against using the country's territory for acts that undermine national security, after rocket fire towards Israel sparked retaliatory strikes.

The Higher Defense Council said it had recommended the government warn Hamas "against using Lebanese territory for any acts that undermine Lebanese national security".

The council headed by President Joseph Aoun added that "the utmost measures and necessary procedures will be taken to put a definitive end to any act that violates Lebanese sovereignty".

Last month, the Lebanese army arrested Lebanese and Palestinian individuals accused of firing rockets towards Israel on March 22 and March 28.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which fought a war against Israel last year, denying any involvement.

A Lebanese security source told AFP security forces arrested three Hamas members.

The Palestinian group claimed responsibility for occasional attacks on Israel from Lebanon during the war.

In its statement, the council said Aoun stressed Lebanon must not be used as a launchpad for instability or be dragged into unnecessary wars.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said illegal weapons must be handed over and that Hamas and other factions must not "undermine security and national stability".

The council also said legal proceedings would begin early next week against those detained over the rocket fire.

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreed in November to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that included a bombing campaign and ground incursion.

Under the deal, Hezbollah was to withdraw north of the Litani River and dismantle military sites to its south.

Israel was to pull out of southern Lebanon but has kept troops in five positions it calls "strategic".



Syria Announces Commissions for Missing Persons, Transitional Justice

A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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Syria Announces Commissions for Missing Persons, Transitional Justice

A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syria on Saturday announced the formation of a national commission for missing persons and another for transitional justice, more than five months after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Syria's new authorities have pledged justice for victims of atrocities committed under Assad's rule, and a five-year transitional constitution signed in March provided for the formation of a transitional justice commission, AFP said.

The fate of tens of thousands of detainees and others who went missing remains one of the most harrowing legacies of Syria's conflict, which erupted in 2011 when Assad's forces brutally repressed anti-government protests, triggering more than a decade of war.

A decree signed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and released by the presidency announced the formation of an independent "national commission for missing persons".

The body is tasked with "researching and uncovering the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared, documenting cases, establishing a national database and providing legal and humanitarian support to their families".

A separate decree announced the formation of a national commission for transitional justice to "uncover the truth about the grave violations caused by the former regime".

That commission should hold those responsible to account "in coordination with the relevant authorities, remedy the harm to victims, and firmly establish the principles of non-recurrence and national reconciliation", according to the announcement.

The decree noted "the need to achieve transitional justice as a fundamental pillar for building a state of law, guaranteeing victims' rights and achieving comprehensive national reconciliation".

Both bodies will have "financial and administrative independence" and act over all of Syrian territory, according to the decrees signed by Sharaa.

In December, the opposition factions toppled Assad after five decades of his family's iron-fisted rule and nearly 14 years of brutal war that killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more.

Tens of thousands of people were detained and tortured in the country's jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons against his own people.

Rights groups, activists and the international community have repeatedly emphasized the importance of transitional justice in the war-torn country.

In March, Sharaa signed into force a constitutional declaration for a five-year transitional period.

It stipulated that during that period, a "transitional justice commission" would be formed to "determine the means for accountability, establish the facts, and provide justice to victims and survivors" of the former government's misdeeds.

This week, prominent Syrian human rights lawyer Mazen Darwish told AFP that lasting peace in Syria depended on the country building a strong judicial system giving justice to the victims of all crimes committed during the Assad era.