Lebanon’s Hariri Says his ‘Political Intentions Are Clear’

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri receives a delegation from Iqlim al-Kharroub. Dalati and Nohra photo
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri receives a delegation from Iqlim al-Kharroub. Dalati and Nohra photo
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Lebanon’s Hariri Says his ‘Political Intentions Are Clear’

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri receives a delegation from Iqlim al-Kharroub. Dalati and Nohra photo
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri receives a delegation from Iqlim al-Kharroub. Dalati and Nohra photo

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has said that it was not possible to govern the country amid differences between its different factions.

Lebanon can only be governed through “understanding and cooperation,” said Hariri on Friday.

"We have full confidence in our institutions and the state, but what is happening with the obstacles facing government formation,” it has become clear who is blocking it, Hariri said during a meeting with officials from his Mustaqbal Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party in Iqlim al-Kharroub.

“We have no choice but to work together to preserve each other,” said Hariri, who has been trying for months to form a national unity cabinet.

“My political intentions are clear,” he said, hinting that his rivals had ulterior motives in obstructing the government lineup.

Hariri reiterated that the Lebanese Constitution on the formation of the cabinet is clear.

“It states that the PM-designate forms his government in consultation with the President,” said Hariri.

Yet many sides have no interest in implementing the Taef Accord, he told his visitors.

Unfortunately, last week’s defamation campaign only “hurt Lebanon,” he added.

Druze politician Wiam Wahhab has been at the heart of rising political tension over the last week with a series of verbal attacks on Hariri.

Hariri supporters lodged a legal complaint against Wahhab.

The tension has cast another shadow over efforts to form a new national unity government more than six months since an election, with rival parties still unable to agree on how to share out portfolios in the new cabinet.

The internal security forces said they went to Wahhab's village of al-Jahiliya to take him for questioning after the public prosecutor accepted the legal complaint against him and referred the matter to the police.

In a statement, police said one of Wahhab's aides – Mohamed Abu Diyab - was shot in "random" gunfire by Wahhab supporters and denied the police had opened fire.



Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
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Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a "grave mistake" that he said would benefit the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel's military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition, Reuters reported.

Smotrich's comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.

"... the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas," Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as "logistical support for the enemy during wartime".

The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.

Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to UN estimates.

Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.

PRESSURE

Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.

The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.