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Aoun: Neutrality Doesn’t Mean Giving Up Lebanon’s Right to Self-defense

President Michel Aoun met Thursday with a delegation of the Muslim Scholars Association in Lebanon. NNA
President Michel Aoun met Thursday with a delegation of the Muslim Scholars Association in Lebanon. NNA
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Aoun: Neutrality Doesn’t Mean Giving Up Lebanon’s Right to Self-defense

President Michel Aoun met Thursday with a delegation of the Muslim Scholars Association in Lebanon. NNA
President Michel Aoun met Thursday with a delegation of the Muslim Scholars Association in Lebanon. NNA

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Thursday that neutrality does not mean that the state gives up its right to self-defense, adding that Lebanon is in no position to attack anyone or support disputes.

“But we are obligated to defend ourselves, whether we are neutral or not,” he said.

Aoun’s stance came during a meeting with a delegation from the Muslim Scholars Association in Lebanon, headed by Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Judge Sheikh Ahmed Al-Zein, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.
On corruption, the President stressed the need for an investigation on the sources of funds and whoever manages them.

“We will resort to adopting a successful method that secures handing over the files through forensic auditing, although we are facing resistance not at the popular level but at other levels, which requires your help because we cannot accomplish this matter unless there is a movement that supports us in doing so,” he said.

Aoun confirmed that terrorists will not be able to act on Lebanese soil.

“Those who expelled the terrorists from our mountains and plains will not allow them in again,” he noted.

The President said Lebanon has finally laid down a plan for the return of Syrian refugees provided that in the next stage a meeting of concerned authorities to arrange the return is called for, in coordination and agreement with Syria, and with the countries concerned with the affairs of the displaced.

“We have always called on the countries concerned with their affairs to do what they must in order to secure refugees’ return, and we waited for their positions, so that today we have to do what is practical to push these countries to fulfill their duties towards them,” Aoun stressed.

The President added that concerned authorities are vigilant in securing the southern border in light of Lebanon’s keenness to resolve disputed issues with Israel through UN mediation.

He also addressed the economic crisis, indicating that work is underway to secure increased aid to needy families, in line with the state’s abilities and the assistance it receives.

On Wednesday, the President met with Maronite Patriach Beshara al-Rai who confirmed that Lebanon needs to stay neutral to be saved from hunger and poverty.

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Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
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Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File

War has left Gaza littered with unexploded bombs that will take years to clear, with children drawn to metal casings maimed or even killed when they try to pick them up, a demining expert said.

Nicholas Orr, a former UK military deminer, told AFP after a mission to the war-battered Palestinian territory that "we're losing two people a day to UXO (unexploded ordnance) at the moment."

According to Orr, most of the casualties are children out of school desperate for something to do, searching through the rubble of bombed-out buildings sometimes for lack of better playthings.

"They're bored, they're running around, they find something curious, they play with it, and that's the end," he said.

Among the victims was 15-year-old Ahmed Azzam, who lost his leg to an explosive left in the rubble as he returned to his home in the southern city of Rafah after months of displacement.

"We were inspecting the remains of our home and there was a suspicious object in the rubble," Azzam told AFP.

"I didn't know it was explosive, but suddenly it detonated," he said, causing "severe wounds to both my legs, which led to the amputation of one of them."

He was one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning home during a truce that brought short-lived calm to Gaza after more than 15 months of war, before Israel resumed its bombardment and military operations last month.

For Azzam and other children, the return was marred by the dangers of leftover explosives.

'Attractive to kids'

Demining expert Orr, who was in Gaza for charity Handicap International, said that while no one is safe from the threat posed by unexploded munitions, children are especially vulnerable.

Some ordnance is like "gold to look at, so they're quite attractive to kids", he said.

"You pick that up and that detonates. That's you and your family gone, and the rest of your building."

Another common scenario involved people back from displacement, said Orr, giving an example of "a father of a family who's moved back to his home to reclaim his life, and finds that there's UXO in his garden".

"So he tries to help himself and help his family by moving the UXO, and there's an accident."

With fighting ongoing and humanitarian access limited, little data is available, but in January the UN Mine Action Service said that "between five and 10 percent" of weapons fired into Gaza failed to detonate.

It could take 14 years to make the coastal territory safe from unexploded bombs, the UN agency said.

Alexandra Saieh, head of advocacy for Save The Children, said unexploded ordnance is a common sight in the Gaza Strip, where her charity operates.

"When our teams go on field they see UXOs all the time. Gaza is littered with them," she said.

'Numbers game'

For children who lose limbs from blasts, "the situation is catastrophic", said Saieh, because "child amputees require specialized long-term care... that's just not available in Gaza".

In early March, just before the ceasefire collapsed, Israel blocked all aid from entering Gaza. That included prosthetics that could have helped avoid long-term mobility loss, Saieh said.

Unexploded ordnance comes in various forms, Orr said. In Gaza's north, where ground battles raged for months, there are things like "mortars, grenades, and a lot of bullets".

In Rafah, where air strikes were more intense than ground combat, "it's artillery projectiles, it's airdrop projectiles", which can often weigh dozens of kilograms, he added.

Orr said he was unable to obtain permission to conduct bomb disposal in Gaza, as Israeli aerial surveillance could have mistaken him for a militant attempting to repurpose unexploded ordnance into weapons.

He also said that while awareness-raising could help Gazans manage the threat, the message doesn't always travel fast enough.

"People see each other moving it and think, 'Oh, they've done it, I can get away with it,'" Orr said, warning that it was difficult for a layperson to know which bombs might still explode, insisting it was not worth the risk.

"You're just playing against the odds, it's a numbers game."