Lebanese Judge Ghada Aoun Summoned for Questioning

Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo
Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo
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Lebanese Judge Ghada Aoun Summoned for Questioning

Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo
Judge Ghada Aoun. NNA file photo

Public Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oweidat set next Monday a date to question Judge Ghada Aoun for insulting the Supreme Judicial Council, in addition to other cases, a judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Her summoning by Owaidat shocked the judiciary because the judge is backed by President Michel Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement that is led by the president’s son-in-law Gebran Bassil.

Judge Aoun will also be questioned on the cases filed by deputy Hadi Hobeich against her for defamation.

Oweidat has commissioned Judge Ghassan al-Khoury to interrogate her and to inform him of the results in order to take the appropriate legal action.

Judge Aoun has posted on her WhatsApp harsh remarks on the Supreme Judicial Council, accusing it of trying to keep mouths shut after she gave her opinion about appointments in the judiciary.

The source said Judge Aoun “was called in for investigation before President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Imad Kabalan, last Thursday, but she rejected.”

He said that Khoury then contacted Judge Aoun, and informed her that it is necessary that she heads to his office at the Justice Palace in Beirut before noon next Monday.

Sources close to Aoun considered her summoning a political campaign against her.

Hobeich welcomed Friday the summoning of the judge.

“I have never threatened Judge Aoun, but only raised my voice against the violations she committed against me and many other lawyers,” Hobeich told Asharq Al-Awsat.



Abbas Urges Hamas to Stop Giving Israel ‘Excuses’ in Gaza

A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
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Abbas Urges Hamas to Stop Giving Israel ‘Excuses’ in Gaza

A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the Hamas group Tuesday to stop giving Israel "excuses" to keep up its devastating offensive in Gaza.

Israel resumed major strikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday that 58 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.

In a statement, the Ramallah-based Palestinian presidency called on Hamas to "cease making any irresponsible decisions to spare our people the consequences of (the Israeli) aggression".

The statement pointed to the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. "Stop giving the occupation any excuses to continue its genocide," it said.

It called on Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, to "adhere to the official Palestinian position and the Arab initiatives".

French President Emmanuel Macron met with King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi of Egypt in Cairo Monday, where they called for Abbas's Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza after a ceasefire, and for Hamas to have no role in post-war governance.

The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Abbas's Fatah movement, Hamas's longtime rival.

At their Cairo meeting, the three leaders called for an "immediate return" to the two-month ceasefire that effectively ended in March.

In its statement, the Palestinian presidency also denounced a newly established Israeli corridor in south Gaza as a violation of international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the creation of the Morag axis between the south Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah last week.

He presented the axis as a new Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land along the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt that the Israeli army has already cleared of buildings.

Witnesses told AFP Tuesday that Israeli forces were present on the axis, and had set up a surveillance crane equipped with a machine gun at one of its crossroads.