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Marcel Ghanem Rejects ‘Silencing of Voices’ in Lebanon

Lebanese Media Figure Marcel Ghanem. Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanese Media Figure Marcel Ghanem. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Marcel Ghanem Rejects ‘Silencing of Voices’ in Lebanon

Lebanese Media Figure Marcel Ghanem. Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanese Media Figure Marcel Ghanem. Asharq Al-Awsat

The summoning of Lebanese media figure Marcel Ghanem to investigate the hosting of two Saudi journalists, Ibrahim al-Merhi and Adhwan Alahmari, in last week’s episode of his program “Kalam Al-Nas” has drawn more reactions.
 
Warnings rose on Friday against harming the media and entrapping it in political bickering, as well as exploiting the crisis to “silence voices”.
 
After accusing on Thursday Justice Minister Salim Jreissati of bias, Ghanem reiterated in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat that he refused to submit to the investigation, adhering to the rights of journalists and media workers and warning against using his program in the current political crisis.
 
“It was demanded that I would be brought and requested to pledge in signing that I would not attack the President of the Republic; I never did and won’t do,” Ghanem said at the beginning of his political show on Thursday.
 
Addressing Jreissati, Ghanem asked: “Have you taken any action in the Free Zone case, of which you were the main hero? In the case of Casino du Liban? And in the most important file: the events of Arsal, when we saw members of ISIS leaving in armored buses in a scandal deal? What did you do to bring the murderers of Rafik Hariri to justice?”
 
In a statement on Friday, Jreissati said: “The time of media’s disgrace, which is devoid of any moral or professional controls, has passed.”
 
Ghanem responded, in comments to Asharq Al-Awsat: “The words of the Minister of Justice are returned to him. He is trying to infuse the media into his political calculations, exploit the political situation by shutting the mouths and intimidating the media.”
 
“We will not accept such attempts,” he added.
 
The case sparked a wave of support for Ghanem from the majority of Lebanese politicians.
 
Information Minister Melhem Riachi said: “Insulting national symbols is not permissible in any circumstance, especially through the media, but in the event the media fell in any inadvertent error, there is a mechanism for all of us to abide by, through the Ministry of Information and the National Information Council.”
 
“I appreciate the position of the Minister of Information who, in a phone call with me, confirmed his support (against fascism in dealing with the media),” Ghanem said.
 
For his part, Minister of Education Marwan Hamadeh expressed his solidarity with Ghanem “in the context of the battle of freedoms” and warned in a statement against any violation of media freedom.
 
MP and former Minister Boutros Harb underlined his commitment to defend freedoms and volunteering as a lawyer to defend Ghanem in any prosecution against him.
 
“Hosting guests in a program on air does not place any responsibility on the host in the event of a guest violated the law,” Harb said.

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Arab World

Australia Orders All 'Non-essential' Officials to Leave Lebanon

A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Australia Orders All 'Non-essential' Officials to Leave Lebanon

A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)

Australia has ordered all non-essential officials in Lebanon to leave, Canberra's foreign minister said Friday, after issuing the same command to diplomats in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

In a post on X, top diplomat Penny Wong said they had been ordered to depart due to the "deteriorating security situation", AFP said.

"Essential Australian officials will remain in-country to support Australians who need it," she added.

The warning came hours after Canberra issued the same order to officials in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Canberra has said there are about 115,000 Australian nationals across the Middle East, of whom about 2,600 have returned home.

"We urge Australians in the Middle East to leave if you can and if it's safe to do so," Wong said.

"Don't wait until it's too late. It may be the last chance for some time."

The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 that killed its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and triggered a war in the Middle East.

Iran has responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Gulf states like the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.

Officials said 14 people had been killed in Israel since the start of the Iran war.

Inside Iran, its health ministry said this week that more than 1,200 people have been killed.

Hundreds more people have died in Lebanon.

Australia backed the US-Israeli strikes as necessary to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

And Canberra said this week it would deploy a long-range military reconnaissance plane to the Gulf to protect civilians.

Arab World

Israel Destroys Zrariyeh Bridge in South Lebanon, Carries Out Deadly Strikes

13 March 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: A view of a building damaged by an Israeli air strike on Beirut. Photo: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 March 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: A view of a building damaged by an Israeli air strike on Beirut. Photo: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israel Destroys Zrariyeh Bridge in South Lebanon, Carries Out Deadly Strikes

13 March 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: A view of a building damaged by an Israeli air strike on Beirut. Photo: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 March 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: A view of a building damaged by an Israeli air strike on Beirut. Photo: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The Israeli military has destroyed a key bridge on the Litani River in south Lebanon as it carried out deadly strikes across the country.

The military’s Arabic spokesman posted on X that the bridge destroyed in the village of Zrariyeh was used by Hezbollah fighters to move between the areas south and north of the river.

The military added that Hezbollah forces near the bridge fired rockets into Israel during the current Israel-Hezbollah war.

It appeared to be the first time in ⁠the ⁠current campaign against Hezbollah that the Israeli military acknowledged it had targeted civilian infrastructure.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike early Friday hit a car in Jnah, a coastal neighborhood in southwestern Beirut, and killed one person, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Separately, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Nabaa neighborhood, leaving it engulfed in flames, local media reported.

Nabaa lies on Beirut’s northern outskirts within the densely populated Burj Hammoud district. No casualties were immediately reported.

It was the first time such an area has been struck in this conflict or during the 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Following the strikes, the Israeli army said it had targeted a Hezbollah member in Beirut. Both neighborhoods are far from the southern suburbs of Beirut, which the Israeli military has declared unsafe and issued evacuation notices for.

Also Friday, an Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon that was targeting an al-Jamaa al-Islamiya official killed two people.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the early strike on an apartment in the eastern village of Bar Elias wounded Youssef Dahouk, a local official with al-Jamaa al-Islamiya and two others.

The agency said Dahouk’s two sons were killed in the strike.

Over the past two years, Israel has targeted officials with al-Jamaa al-Islamiya.

Authorities in Lebanon say 800,000 have been forced from their homes. More than 600 have been killed.

Hezbollah said early Friday that it had fired several rocket salvos toward northern Israel and Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

Arab World

Lebanon Prepares for Possible Negotiations with Israel: Forming Delegation and Coordinating with Syria

A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Prepares for Possible Negotiations with Israel: Forming Delegation and Coordinating with Syria

A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A plume of smoke billows following reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 13, 2026. (Reuters)

Lebanon has started to make preparations ahead of the possibility of holding direct negotiations with Israel, based on an initiative proposed by President Joseph Aoun to end Israel’s war on Lebanon.

Diplomatic and political contacts have also been intensifying amid the rapid developments in Lebanon and the region.

Aoun held a joint telephone call with his Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday to address the developments. They agreed to keep channels of communication open to follow up on issues, said the Lebanese presidency.

For his part, Macron underscored the importance of coordination launched by the Lebanese and Syrian leaderships, saying France will continue to support it. Sharaa backs the Lebanese authorities’ efforts to reclaim full control of its territories.

Macron called on Israel to cease its attacks on Lebanon, while accusing Hezbollah of making a “major mistake in dragging Lebanon into a confrontation with Israel.”

Ministerial sources close to the presidency told Asharq Al-Awsat that the call was made at Macron’s request, who believes that negotiations should cover various paths and should not be limited to just talks between Lebanon and Israel.

They should also include negotiations between Syria and Israel, border issues and pending affairs between them. Negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, Syria and Israel and between all three could lead to connected results, especially over the border, notably the Shebaa Farms.

Lebanon has yet to receive a receptive response from the concerned parties, particularly Israel and the United States, which should sponsor any possible talks.

Regardless, the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon has kicked off steps to engage in negotiations with Israel. It has started to form a delegation that will head to Cyprus should negotiations get a green light.

The delegation will include Ambassador Abdel Sattar Issa, who was chosen by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to represent Sunnis, former Ambassador Simon Karam, who will represent Maronites, Shawki Abou Nassar, who will represent the Druze. Discussions are underway to name an Orthodox representative.

No Shiite has been named to the delegation, said the sources, with parliament Speaker Nabih Berri refusing to name one. He instead said that the Mechanism committee should handle talks until a ceasefire is reached.

On the diplomatic level, Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi received a telephone call from Hamish Faulkner, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to discuss the situation in Lebanon.

Faulkner expressed his country’s solidarity with Lebanon, saying it was ready to offer humanitarian support and work with the concerned parties towards a ceasefire.

Raggi also received a similar phone call from his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares.