Majdalani to Asharq Al-Awsat: No Rupture with Lebanese Forces

Majdalani met with President Aoun last October/Dalati&Nohra
Majdalani met with President Aoun last October/Dalati&Nohra
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Majdalani to Asharq Al-Awsat: No Rupture with Lebanese Forces

Majdalani met with President Aoun last October/Dalati&Nohra
Majdalani met with President Aoun last October/Dalati&Nohra

Member of the “Future Movement” parliamentary bloc, MP Atef Majdalani said on Thursday that the dissociation policy has turned into a national issue that should be defended by all the Lebanese,” adding that the visit of Iraqi paramilitary group Asaib Ahl al-Haq leader, Qais al-Khazali to southern Lebanon damages the country and violates its sovereignty.

“The dissociation policy is not a mere internal accord between the political forces, but a national issue that should be defended by all the Lebanese who care about protecting their country from the hot spots burning near us,” Majdalani told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The deputy added that any violation of this policy would turn into an uncalculated adventure.

“Then, Prime Minister Saad Hariri will not be the only one to object those violations, but all the state, on top of which is President Michel Aoun,” he said.

Commenting on the visit of al-Khazali to southern Lebanon this month, Majdalani said that such actions “distort the image of the state, because they show that the legitimate authority in Lebanon is weak. And whether the timing of the visit was set deliberately or not, the measures taken by the Lebanese authorities, through the recommendations of Aoun and Hariri, reflect the unity of the political authority in facing any violations.”

The deputy denied that the Future Movement’s relationship with its ally, the Lebanese Forces, was heading towards escalation and rupture following the latest disputes.

Majdalani admitted that relations between the two allies passed through a cloud.

“But, what is certain is that the two sides agree on the strategic and national views, including the dissociation policy that allowed the government of Hariri to remain,” he stated.

The deputy added: “The upcoming days will reveal that the conclusions of some parties in this regard were not true.”

According to Majdalani, it was still too early to speak about electoral alliances.



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.