Aoun Underlines Keenness to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

Lebanese President Michel Aoun addresses the heads of the Arab and foreign diplomatic corps at the Baabda Palace (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun addresses the heads of the Arab and foreign diplomatic corps at the Baabda Palace (Dalati & Nohra)
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Aoun Underlines Keenness to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

Lebanese President Michel Aoun addresses the heads of the Arab and foreign diplomatic corps at the Baabda Palace (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun addresses the heads of the Arab and foreign diplomatic corps at the Baabda Palace (Dalati & Nohra)

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun said the accomplishment of an electoral law based on proportional representation “for the first time in the history of Lebanon, and after strenuous efforts, will ensure further political stability since it will allow a greater fairness of representation.”
 
This came on Tuesday during a speech he delivered before heads of the Arab and foreign diplomatic corps and heads of the international missions accredited to Lebanon.
 
 “I affirm my keenness on holding the parliamentary elections on time,” Aoun said, adding that the government, “which featured the major political parties, contributed to the consolidation of stability, although divergent voices rose at times, remaining though under the ceiling of political differences which enrich the democratic life.”
 
Aoun went on to say that the current government has succeeded in protecting Lebanon from surrounding conflicts.
 
“Undoubtedly, it is very difficult to maintain the security stability in an inflamed region and in a country like Lebanon which is agitated by its surrounding and interacts with it to a great extent. Nevertheless, we managed to achieve it and to prevent the spark of sedition to reach the inside of Lebanon, thanks to the joint wills and to the total coordination between all the organs after the new appointments at the level of leaderships,” he stated.
 
Aoun reiterated his call on the international community to shoulder its responsibility towards the safe return of the displaced to their country.
 
“The strategy that adopted creative chaos to prompt change has not only proven its great failure but also its catastrophic outcome,” the president said, underlining the need for a new approach that tackles the problems of people who were forced to leave their countries due to war.
 
 “There is currently a need for a new international strategy that relies on dialogue first, and on a new approach which respects the rights of the peoples and States… thus putting an end to destruction and bloodshed, and embarking on tackling the repercussions, on top of which the problem of the millions of people who were forced to leave their nations and lands and set off to the unknown,” he stated.



EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the group claimed attacks deep into Israel.  

The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into Israel during the day. Some of them were intercepted but others caused damage to houses in central Israel, according to AFP images.  

A day after the health ministry said Israeli strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon killed 84 people, state media reported two strikes on Sunday on the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel's military said it had attacked "headquarters" of the group "hidden within civilian structures" in south Beirut.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following that group's October 7 attack on Israel.

The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.  

On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.  

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp" and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.  

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said.  

"Lebanon is on the brink of collapse", he warned.  

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces present in the southern border area.  

The resolution also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, and reiterated earlier calls for "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon."