Lebanon’s President, PM Lash Out at Critics

The cabinet session held at Baabda Palace on Thursday. NNA
The cabinet session held at Baabda Palace on Thursday. NNA
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Lebanon’s President, PM Lash Out at Critics

The cabinet session held at Baabda Palace on Thursday. NNA
The cabinet session held at Baabda Palace on Thursday. NNA

Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab have upped their rhetoric against critics of the presidential tenure and the government.

During a cabinet session held at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Aoun pointed out at the campaigns blaming “the authority and the government for the current crisis, at a time when everyone knows that neither I (President) nor you (government) have caused it.”

Aoun urged cabinet ministers for solidarity against critics.

During the session, Diab also touched on the political campaigns launched against his government, which he said was busy dealing with the daily living conditions of the Lebanese people.

He confirmed that the second batch of financial aid had started to be distributed after the number of the beneficiaries was expanded.

“People are supposed to receive the aid within days, in addition to a noticeable decline in food prices, and a gradual return to the economic cycle,” Diab said.

He stressed his support to the right of protesting and understanding the outcry of people, but “there is fear there might be attempts to exploit this outcry for political purposes and the people’s demands turning into a means that again causes a return to blocking roads, paralyzing the country, closing institutions, disrupting the people’s work, and subsequently leading to the dismissal of employees and workers.”

The PM also called for practicing the democratic right with calm and without rioting, while taking health protection measures amid the coronavirus pandemic that hasn’t ended.

The statements of Aoun and Diab came on the eve of a planned anti-government protest by civil society in Beirut on Saturday.



UN Food Agency Says Israeli Tanks, Snipers Opened Fire on a Crowd Seeking Aid in Gaza

Mourners attend the funeral of their relatives killed in an Israeli bombardment, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners attend the funeral of their relatives killed in an Israeli bombardment, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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UN Food Agency Says Israeli Tanks, Snipers Opened Fire on a Crowd Seeking Aid in Gaza

Mourners attend the funeral of their relatives killed in an Israeli bombardment, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners attend the funeral of their relatives killed in an Israeli bombardment, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The UN food agency accused Israel of using tanks, snipers and other weapons to fire on a crowd of Palestinians seeking food aid, in what the territory's Health Ministry said was one of the deadliest days for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war.

The World Food Program in a statement Sunday condemned the violence that erupted in northern Gaza as Palestinians tried to reach a convoy of trucks carrying food. The Health Ministry in Gaza said at least 80 people were killed in the incident. The Israeli military has said it fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat,” but has questioned the death toll reported by the Palestinians.

The accusation by a major aid agency that has had generally good working relations with Israel builds on descriptions by witnesses and others, who also said Israel opened fire on the crowd, The AP news reported.

The bloodshed surrounding aid access highlights the increasingly precarious situation for people in Gaza who have been desperately seeking out food and other assistance, as the war that has roiled the region shows no signs of ending. Israel and Hamas are still engaged in ceasefire talks, but there appears to be no breakthrough and it's not clear whether any truce would bring the war to a lasting halt.

As the talks proceed, the death toll in the war-ravaged territory has climbed to more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

WFP condemns violence at food distribution points In northern Gaza on Sunday, the Health Ministry, witnesses and a UN official said Israeli forces opened fire toward crowds who tried to get food from a 25-truck convoy that had entered the hard-hit area.

The WFP statement, which said the crowd surrounding its convoy “came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire,” backs up those claims. The statement did not specify a death toll, saying only the incident resulted in the loss of “countless lives.”

“These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation,” it said, adding that the incident occurred despite assurances from Israeli authorities that aid delivery would improve. Part of those assurances, it said, was that armed forces would not be present nor engage along aid routes.

“Shootings near humanitarian missions, convoys and food distributions must stop immediately.”

Israel has not allowed international media to enter Gaza throughout the war, and the competing claims could not be independently verified.