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Lebanon Asks UNIFIL to Coordinate With Army

Prime Minister Hassan Diab with UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col at the UNIFIL headquarters, South Lebanon (NNA).
Prime Minister Hassan Diab with UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col at the UNIFIL headquarters, South Lebanon (NNA).
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Lebanon Asks UNIFIL to Coordinate With Army

Prime Minister Hassan Diab with UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col at the UNIFIL headquarters, South Lebanon (NNA).
Prime Minister Hassan Diab with UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col at the UNIFIL headquarters, South Lebanon (NNA).

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab said that the presence of the international peacekeepers operating in the South (UNIFIL) “is still necessary and urgent”, reiterating “Lebanon’s commitment to implementing Security Council Resolution 1701 and maintaining the number of international forces without any amendment.”

He also stressed the importance of UNIFIL’s continued coordination and close cooperation with the Lebanese army “to prevent any confusion.”

Diab visited on Wednesday the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, following a number of incidents over the past few days between peacekeepers and residents of southern villages. He was accompanied by Defense Minister Zeina Akar and Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun.

On Tuesday, residents of the southern village of Blida accused a UNIFIL military vehicle of hitting two cars and a motorbike, the state-run National News Agency reported. UNIFIL said it was investigating the incident.

“The need for UNIFIL troops is still necessary and urgent, in light of the Israeli attempts to destabilize south Lebanon and the continued violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty by land, sea and air,” the Lebanese prime minister said in a televised conference before his meeting with UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col.

Del Col, for his part, said he was looking forward to “working with the Lebanese government and particularly the Lebanese Army on implementing UNSCR 1701 in full, and addressing any unresolved cases.”

The prime minister’s visit also came in the wake of statements made by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, in which he responded to what he said were US demands to amend the mission of UNIFIL and grant it the right to search civilian homes.

“Since 2006, UNIFIL has been working in coordination with the Lebanese Army. Israel and the US want to give it free rein to raid and search private properties,” Nasrallah said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

“They want to reduce UNIFIL numbers? Go ahead. Increase them? Go ahead,” Nasrallah said, adding if they also want to leave it will be no problem. “But we consider expanding its mandate an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty.”

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Arab World

Kurdistan Region Seeks Retroactive Compensation for Crimes Committed Under Saddam Hussein

Kurdish families at a cemetery for victims of the chemical bombardment of the city of Halabja (AFP). 
Kurdish families at a cemetery for victims of the chemical bombardment of the city of Halabja (AFP). 
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Kurdistan Region Seeks Retroactive Compensation for Crimes Committed Under Saddam Hussein

Kurdish families at a cemetery for victims of the chemical bombardment of the city of Halabja (AFP). 
Kurdish families at a cemetery for victims of the chemical bombardment of the city of Halabja (AFP). 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has renewed a retroactive demand for compensation from Iraq’s federal government for crimes committed by the regime of the late president Saddam Hussein against the Kurds.

The move is widely seen as a calculated bid for leverage as calls grow to scrutinize the region’s revenues and governance.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the KRG said it is seeking $384.6 billion in compensation for the people of the Kurdistan Region for damages resulting from “crimes committed by the Iraqi regime between 1963 and 2003”, the period of Baath Party rule from its coup against the government of Abdul Karim Qasim until the US-led invasion that toppled it.

The claim is not unprecedented. Erbil made the same demand in 2013, according to a statement issued at the time by the KRG’s Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs.

Why now?

Explaining the timing, Jotiar Adil, head of the KRG’s Department of Media and Information, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Erbil did not choose the timing; it was imposed by the painful paradox in Baghdad’s dealings with the region.”

Constitutional rights, he said, “do not lapse with time,” adding that reopening the compensation file is meant to remind partners in Baghdad that the people of Kurdistan are owed billions of dollars for widespread destruction and genocide.

Adil argued that subjecting the region to “microscopic scrutiny” over oil and non-oil revenues while ignoring the destruction of 4,500 villages—wiped out during the 1988 military campaign internationally recognized as genocide—was illogical.

“The timing carries a message,” he said. “Before you cut our people’s livelihoods today, remember your historical debts to them.” He rejected suggestions that the move was political maneuvering, describing it instead as “a legal rights case aimed at justice, not at paralyzing Baghdad.”

A dispute over resources

Baghdad has insisted on implementing agreements governing oil revenues and border crossings before releasing the region’s financial entitlements. Technical disputes are often entangled with political negotiations over forming federal governments.

Iraq’s constitution provides for joint management of oil and gas, equitable revenue distribution based on population, and temporary allocations for areas damaged by past conflicts.

For years, the Kurdistan Region exported oil via Türkiye’s Ceyhan port without Baghdad’s approval. Exports were halted in 2023 following an international arbitration ruling requiring sales to be conducted through the state oil marketer, SOMO, exacerbating tensions.

Although an agreement was reached in 2025 on handing over the region’s oil, it has yet to be implemented. Baghdad later cut public-sector salaries in the Kurdistan Region as leverage, a move Erbil condemned as a violation of citizens’ rights.

Adil said the compensation figure was based on international standards similar to those used by the UN Compensation Commission in assessing damages to Kuwait after Iraq’s 1990 invasion, factoring in cumulative harm and present value.

He noted that post-2003 governments honored Saddam-era obligations abroad — paying compensation to Kuwait and settling Paris Club debts — while rejecting comparable responsibility toward victims at home.

 

 

Arab World

Syria Says Busted Hezbollah-Linked Cell Behind Damascus Attacks

A supporter of Hezbollah holds a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)
A supporter of Hezbollah holds a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)
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Syria Says Busted Hezbollah-Linked Cell Behind Damascus Attacks

A supporter of Hezbollah holds a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)
A supporter of Hezbollah holds a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)

Syria's interior ministry said Sunday that its forces had dismantled a cell that was responsible for recent attacks targeting Damascus's Mazzeh district, saying the weapons came from Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

Security forces carried out operations that "targeted a terrorist cell involved in several attacks on the Mazzeh area and its military airport", a statement said, reporting that the cell was dismantled and its members arrested.

Forces also "seized a number of drones that were prepared for use in terrorist acts", it said.

"Preliminary investigations with those arrested revealed their links to foreign entities, and that the source of the rockets and launch platforms used in the attacks, as well as the seized drones, goes back to Lebanese militia Hezbollah," the statement added.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah played a key role in Syria's civil war, fighting alongside the forces of now ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.

Syria was formerly part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and enabled the transfer of weapons and money from Iran to Hezbollah, but the new authorities in Damascus have rejected Iranian influence.

Last month, authorities said three rockets hit the Mazzeh area, with one damaging a mosque and another coming down near the military airport, without causing casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said at the time that the mosque was in an area where senior officials from Syria's new authorities live.

And in December, state news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying three projectiles of unknown origin targeted the area near the Mazzeh military airport, without causing damage or casualties.

A month earlier, a woman was hurt in a rocket attack that struck a house in the Mazzeh area, with SANA quoting a military source as saying the attack was carried out "using rockets launched from a mobile platform".

Arab World

Israel to Terminate MSF Work in Gaza for Failing to Provide Palestinian Staff List

A young boy sits overlooking destroyed buildings at Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 31, 2026. (AFP)
A young boy sits overlooking destroyed buildings at Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 31, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel to Terminate MSF Work in Gaza for Failing to Provide Palestinian Staff List

A young boy sits overlooking destroyed buildings at Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 31, 2026. (AFP)
A young boy sits overlooking destroyed buildings at Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 31, 2026. (AFP)

Israel said Sunday it was terminating the humanitarian operations of the international charity Doctors Without Borders in Gaza after the organization failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff.

"The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism is moving to terminate the activities of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Gaza Strip," the ministry said.

The decision follows "MSF's failure to submit lists of local employees, a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organizations operating in the region", it added, stating that the group will cease its work and leave Gaza by February 28.

In December, the ministry announced it would prevent 37 aid organizations, including MSF, from operating in Gaza from March 1 for failing to provide detailed information about their Palestinian staff.

It had alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the medical charity vehemently denies.

On Sunday, the ministry said MSF had committed in early January that it would share the staff list as required by the Israeli authorities.

"Despite its public commitment, the organization refrained from transferring the lists," the ministry said.

"Subsequently, MSF announced it does not intend to proceed with the registration process at all, contradicting its previous statements and the binding protocol.

"In accordance with the regulations, MSF will cease its operations and depart the Gaza Strip by February 28, 2026," the ministry added.

In a statement posted on its website on Friday, MSF acknowledged that it had, as an "exceptional measure", agreed to share a list of names of its Palestinian and international staff with the Israeli authorities.

"However, despite repeated efforts, it became evident that we were unable to build engagement with Israeli authorities on the concrete assurances required," the charity said.

"These included that any staff information would be used only for its stated administrative purpose and would not be colleagues at risk."

MSF said it had not received assurances on these fronts, so "concluded that we will not share staff information in the current circumstances".