Lebanese Politicians React after Hariri’s Bombshell Resignation

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri talks during a conference in Beirut, Lebanon January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri talks during a conference in Beirut, Lebanon January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
TT

Lebanese Politicians React after Hariri’s Bombshell Resignation

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri talks during a conference in Beirut, Lebanon January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri talks during a conference in Beirut, Lebanon January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Saturday that Prime Minister Saad Hariri informed him about his surprise resignation that plunged the country into uncertainty.

“President Michel Aoun received a phone call from PM Saad Hariri, who is currently abroad, and informed him about the government’s resignation,” a statement issued from Baabda Palace said.

Aoun is waiting for Hariri’s return to Beirut “to hear the circumstances of his resignation” and to take appropriate action, the statement said.

Hariri announced his move in a televised statement, accusing Tehran of spreading chaos, strife and destruction throughout the region.

The head of al-Mustaqbal movement also said that the policies of “Hezbollah,” which is backed by Iran, have put Lebanon "in the eye of the storm."

Following the resignation, Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri cut his visit to Egypt short and decided to return home.

Among the first politicians to react to Hariri’s move was Mustafa Alloush, a politician from al-Mustaqbal, who said the resignation came after the PM’s failure to bring Hezbollah to its senses.

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra hoped Hariri’s move would be “an Intifada for dignity to confront all political obstacles.”

Kataeb Party lawmaker Elie Marouni expressed surprise at Hariri’s move, saying “we should await to hear from him” about the circumstances of his resignation.

Former President Michel Suleiman hailed Hariri over his stance, saying: “Enough having two armies in Lebanon.”

He was referring to Hezbollah, which the PM accused of forming a state within the state.



Blinken Demands Overhaul of Israeli Conduct in West Bank after Killing of US Protester

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
TT

Blinken Demands Overhaul of Israeli Conduct in West Bank after Killing of US Protester

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday demanded an overhaul of Israeli military conduct in the occupied West Bank as he decried the fatal shooting of an American protester against settlement expansion, which Israel said was accidental.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who is also a Turkish national, was shot dead last Friday at a protest march in Beita, a village near Nablus where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers.

Israel's military said on Tuesday that its initial inquiry found it was highly likely its troops had fired the shot that killed her but that her death was unintentional, and it voiced deep regret.

In his strongest comments to date criticizing the security forces of Washington's closest Middle East ally, Blinken described Eygi's killing as "unprovoked and unjustified". He said Washington would insist to the Israeli government that it makes changes to how its forces operate in the West Bank.

"No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views," he told reporters in London.

"In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

"Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It's not acceptable," he said.

An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment on Blinken's remarks.

The Israeli military said an investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division was under way and its findings would be submitted for higher-level review once completed.

"We're going to be watching that very, very closely," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, saying a criminal probe was an unusual step by Israel's military.

"We're going to want to see where it goes now in terms of the criminal investigation and what they find, and if and how anyone is held accountable," Kirby added.

Eygi's family called the preliminary inquiry "wholly inadequate" and urged US President Joe Biden to demand an independent investigation.

PRELIMINARY INQUIRY

In a statement, the Israeli military said its commanders had conducted an initial investigation into the incident and found that the gunfire was not aimed at her but another individual it called "the key instigator of the riot."

"The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks towards security forces at the Beita Junction," it said.

Israel has sent a request to Palestinian authorities to carry out an autopsy, it said.

"We are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional," Eygi's family said in a statement.

A surge in violent settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the hardline settler movement. Tensions have been heightened amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Palestinians have held weekly protests in Beita since 2020 over the expansion of nearby Evyatar, a settler outpost. Ultra-nationalist members of Israel's ruling coalition have acted to legalize previously unauthorized outposts like Evyatar, a move Washington says threatens the stability of the West Bank and undercuts efforts toward a two-state solution to the conflict.

Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, an area Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state.

Israel has built a thickening array of settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes that assertion, citing historical and biblical ties to the territory.