Lebanon: Extensive Efforts to Prevent 'Implosion'

Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, on Tuesday met at Dar al-Fatwa with the Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, in the presence of Information Minister Melhem Riachi/NNA
Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, on Tuesday met at Dar al-Fatwa with the Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, in the presence of Information Minister Melhem Riachi/NNA
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Lebanon: Extensive Efforts to Prevent 'Implosion'

Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, on Tuesday met at Dar al-Fatwa with the Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, in the presence of Information Minister Melhem Riachi/NNA
Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, on Tuesday met at Dar al-Fatwa with the Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, in the presence of Information Minister Melhem Riachi/NNA

Four days following the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the Lebanese state gathered on Tuesday all its forces to prevent an implosion of situation in the country.

Political forces were exerting efforts to find a solution that could protect "stability” in the state and reach a settlement among the different parties.

Their efforts could elevate the chances of forming a cabinet of technocrats capable of supervising the upcoming parliamentary elections.

In Beirut, the political dynamic kicked off on two separate lines: President Michel Aoun launched talks with State members at the presidential Palace, while several leaders, along with the French ambassador to Lebanon, had visited the Dar al-Fatwa headquarter to discuss the latest developments.

According to constitutional expert Antoine Saad, Hariri should send his written resignation to President Aoun, who would list it in his archive and give it a number.

Saad told Asharq Al-Awsat that after the president accepts the resignation, he could then issue a presidential decree announcing the resignation of Lebanon’s government.

The expert said that if Hariri does not offer Aoun a written resignation in the near future, then the president has the constitutional right to issue the resignation decree based on Hariri’s televised speech.

Sources close to the talks told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday that following the storm of Hariri’s resignation, Lebanon has now “entered an area of unrest.”

The sources said that the current situation triggered all State leaders and political forces to mobilize in order to “limit the repercussions of the resignation and to consolidate the stability and safety of Lebanon” at this delicate phase.

According to the same sources, “this dynamic kicked off after parties sensed that the situation was dangerous and that there is a need to look for means to protect Lebanon.”

Meanwhile, Hariri’s press office said on Tuesday that the prime minister left Riyadh to Abu Dhabi, where he met with the Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed at noon, before returning back to Saudi Arabia.

Head of the Future parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Siniora said on Tuesday that Hariri is expected to return to Lebanon, adding that his homecoming is now a priority.



With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.