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
TT
20

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.



Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
TT
20

Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that the "weaponization" of food for civilians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, in its strongest remarks yet on a new model of aid distribution run by an Israeli-backed organization.

Over 410 people have been killed by gunshots or shells fired by the Israeli military while trying to reach distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since it began work in late May, UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters at a Geneva press briefing.

The death toll has been independently verified by his office, he added.

"Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food," he said, describing the system as "Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism".

"The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law."

Asked whether Israel was guilty of that war crime, he said: "The legal qualification needs to be made by a court of law."

Israel rejects war crimes charges in Gaza and blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which the fighters deny.