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.



Gaza Rescuers Say 72 Killed by Israeli Fire

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Gaza Rescuers Say 72 Killed by Israeli Fire

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 72 people in the Palestinian territory on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered to receive aid in central and southern Gaza.

Updating an earlier figure, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the death toll had risen to 72, "due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today -- 21 of them were waiting for aid.”

The Israeli army told AFP that troops had fired "warning shots" at "suspects" approaching them in the Netzarim area where the civil defense agency said 15 people were killed waiting for aid, but that it was "not aware of any injured individuals.”