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Lebanon’s Hariri: We Want a Government of National Consensus

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri begins his round of consultations to form a new government by meeting with former Premier Salim Hoss (Dalati & Nohra)
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri begins his round of consultations to form a new government by meeting with former Premier Salim Hoss (Dalati & Nohra)
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Lebanon’s Hariri: We Want a Government of National Consensus

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri begins his round of consultations to form a new government by meeting with former Premier Salim Hoss (Dalati & Nohra)
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri begins his round of consultations to form a new government by meeting with former Premier Salim Hoss (Dalati & Nohra)

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri began on Friday the consultations to form a new government by meeting with the former premiers, including Salim Hoss, Najib Miqati, Fouad Saniora and Tamam Salam.
 
“We want a government that is based on national consensus with regards to broad headlines and even on certain details,” Hariri said following his meeting with Hoss, adding: “We are working in the same positive spirit as we did during the past year and a half...and I am sure we can accomplish a lot.”
 
He also said: “Regional pressure will accelerate the formation of the government as long as there is internal consensus.”
 
Hariri reiterated that none of the Future Movement deputies will be given cabinet seats, noting that there is no disagreement over this issue with caretaker Interior Minister Nohad al-Mashnouq.
 
In remarks following his meeting with Miqati, the prime minister-designate underlined that consensus would strengthen the country, adding that he hoped to promote his relation with the former premier.
 
A statement by Hariri’s office said the two sides stressed that consensus between all parties would reinforce the country and that all political blocs wanted to accelerate the formation of the government.
 
For his part, Miqati said: “We are in front of an important turning point… we agree with Hariri on building the state on the right foundations, including fighting corruption.”
 
Addressing reporters at the end of his visit to Siniora, Hariri underlined the importance of boosting Lebanon’s economy and providing employment opportunities for young Lebanese men and women, referring to the “historic opportunity to implement the Cedar Conference recommendations.”
 
“We all want a rapid cabinet formation for the benefit of Lebanon and the Lebanese. The challenges are great in the country, both economically and regionally,” he added.

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Three Palestinians Killed in Standoff with Security Forces in West Bank

Palestinians inspect the damage done to a mosque, after a reported attack by Israeli settlers, in the town of Marda near the West Bank city of Salfit on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage done to a mosque, after a reported attack by Israeli settlers, in the town of Marda near the West Bank city of Salfit on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Three Palestinians Killed in Standoff with Security Forces in West Bank

Palestinians inspect the damage done to a mosque, after a reported attack by Israeli settlers, in the town of Marda near the West Bank city of Salfit on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage done to a mosque, after a reported attack by Israeli settlers, in the town of Marda near the West Bank city of Salfit on December 20, 2024. (AFP)

A Palestinian man and his son were killed in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, local medical officials said on Friday, as a month-long standoff between Palestinian security forces and armed militant groups in the town continued.

Separately, a security forces officer died in what Palestinian Authority (PA) officials said was an accident, bringing to six the total number of the security forces to have died in the operation in Jenin which began on Dec. 5. There were no further details.

The PA denied that its forces killed the 44-year-old man and his son, who were shot as they stood on the roof of their house in the Jenin refugee camp, a crowded quarter that houses descendants of Palestinians who fled or were driven out in the 1948 Middle East war. The man's daughter was also wounded in the incident, Reuters reported.

At least eight Palestinians have been killed in Jenin over the past month, one of them a member of the armed Jenin Brigades, which includes members of the armed wings of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah factions.

Palestinian security forces moved into Jenin last month in an operation officials say is aimed at suppressing armed groups of "outlaws" who have built up a power base in the city and its adjacent refugee camp.

The operation has deepened splits among Palestinians in the West Bank, where the PA enjoys little popular support but where many fear being dragged into a Gaza-style conflict with Israel if the militant groups strengthen their hold.

Jenin, in the northern West Bank, has been a center of Palestinian militant groups for decades and armed factions have resisted repeated attempts to dislodge them by the Israeli military over the years.

The PA set up three decades ago under the Oslo interim peace accords, exercises limited sovereignty in parts of the West Bank and has claimed a role in administering Gaza once fighting in the enclave is concluded.

The PA is dominated by the Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas and has long had a tense relationship with Hamas, with which it fought a brief civil war in Gaza in 2006 before Hamas drove it out of the enclave.