Lebanese President at UN General Assembly after 3-Year Absence

Lebanese President Michel Aoun. (NNA)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun. (NNA)
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Lebanese President at UN General Assembly after 3-Year Absence

Lebanese President Michel Aoun. (NNA)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun. (NNA)

After years of vacuum, a Lebanese president will take part in the United Nations General Assembly held in New York later this week.

President Michel Aoun traveled to New York on Sunday to attend the Assembly where he will highlight Lebanon as a country of coexistence in a region that is being torn apart by ethnic and sectarian division.

This marks the first time in three years that a Lebanese president takes part in the annual meeting.

Aoun will demand that Lebanon act as an international center for the dialogue of civilizations and religions. He will also stress the need for cooperation with international organizations in regards to aiding Syrian refugees. These organizations do not coordinate with the Lebanese government, but they directly provide their aid to the displaced.

In addition, Aoun will highlight the ongoing Israeli violations of UN resolution 1701.

On Lebanon as an international center for the dialogue of civilizations and religions, Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Our experience and message allows us to carry out this dialogue seeing as we are a successful example of coexistence between religions.”

This initiative stems from the war against terrorism, “which is a global one against an enemy that creates tensions between sects and poses a threat to societies,” explained the MP.

“We can defeat terrorism and extremism if efforts are united to that end,” he stressed.

Prior to his departure to the United States, President Aoun called on the Lebanese people to “remain vigilant and avoid falling for or spreading rumors.”

“Such ploys are part of a calculated attempt to steer attention away from the achievements that have been made to build the state,” he said.

He made his remarks in wake of security warnings that were made by various embassies in Lebanon over the weekend that warned of possible security unrest in the country. This consequently created a sense of tension and apprehension among the people.

The president is scheduled to meet in New York with UN chief Antonio Guterres, as well as a number of heads of state attending the General Assembly. The two leaders had met for the first time on the sidelines of the Arab League summit that was held in Jordan in March.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”