Lebanon: Diab Sues American University of Beirut over Exit Package

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanon: Diab Sues American University of Beirut over Exit Package

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab is suing the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he worked for 35 years as an academic in a dispute over his exit package, his spokesman said.

Diab presented his-long planned resignation in January - the month he became prime minister.

"... He asked for an exit package in line with common practices and precedents at AUB. This request was denied ...," the spokesman said.

AUB, which has been hit hard by Lebanon's economic meltdown, declined to comment on the case, Reuters reported.

Diab had "never made any special request for any payments to be made either in foreign currency or into foreign bank accounts. All AUB professors have their pensions paid in US dollars, from a AUB foreign account", the spokesman noted.

"What the PM expressed was only what was already stated in the AUB retirement plan regulations and policies."

President of private AUB, which was founded in the 1860s, told Reuters in May that Lebanon's catastrophic collapse represented one of the biggest challenges in the history of a university which has weathered many crises, including Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanon is grappling with a crisis caused by decades of state corruption and bad governance. A hard currency liquidity crunch has led to an 80% weakening of the local currency since October.



Israel Confirms Calling Up Reservists for Gaza War Expansion

Israeli armored vehicles take position on Israel's border with the Gaza Srip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
Israeli armored vehicles take position on Israel's border with the Gaza Srip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
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Israel Confirms Calling Up Reservists for Gaza War Expansion

Israeli armored vehicles take position on Israel's border with the Gaza Srip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
Israeli armored vehicles take position on Israel's border with the Gaza Srip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

Israel's army on Sunday confirmed it was calling up "tens of thousands" of reservists to expand its war in Gaza, army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said.

"This week we are issuing tens of thousands of orders to our reservists to intensify and expand our operation in Gaza," Zamir said in a statement, adding the army would destroy all Hamas infrastructure, "both on the surface and underground.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet on Sunday to discuss the expansion of the Gaza offensive and a possible resumption of aid into the besieged enclave, two government officials said.
In a video message posted on the social media platform X on Sunday, hours after part of a missile launched from Yemen by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia fell close to Israel's main gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, Netanyahu said he was convening the security cabinet to discuss "the next stage" of the war in Gaza.
It was unclear if the ministers will give final approval at the meeting.
Already in control of almost a third of Gaza's territory, Israel has faced growing international pressure to lift an aid blockade that it imposed in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months.
Ministers have justified the blockade by saying that Hamas has seized aid intended for civilians and kept it for its own fighters or sold it, charges that Hamas has denied. At the same time, Israel has faced warnings of famine in Gaza as supplies run low.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported last week that a new plan was in the works by which aid will soon be distributed by private foreign companies, rather than UN agencies, in a new designated humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza area of Rafah, to which civilians would be moved after security checks.
New aid plans will be discussed at Sunday's security cabinet meeting, two officials said.
Aid has been a contested issue within the Israeli leadership and defense establishment for months. The military has pushed back against calls by some politicians who want Israel to seize Gaza for good and have Israeli soldiers hand out aid.