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Dialogue Needed over Issue of Lebanon's 'Neutrality' in Region, Says PM Diab

Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)
Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Dialogue Needed over Issue of Lebanon's 'Neutrality' in Region, Says PM Diab

Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)
Prime Minister Hassan Diab meets Patriarch al-Rai in Diman. (Dalati & Nohra)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Saturday dialogue was needed over the country’s stance on regional conflicts, after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai who has urged Lebanon to remain neutral to help it out of its crisis.

The country is in the grip of a financial meltdown, raising concerns for its stability, and is badly in need of foreign aid. Hopes of salvation through an IMF deal have retreated with the government hamstrung by the conflicting agendas of sectarian leaders.

Rai has made several comments this month that were widely interpreted as criticism of both the Iran-backed Hezbollah party and its ally President Michel Aoun, both backers of Diab’s cabinet.

“The issue of neutrality is a political one ... and it needs deep dialogue between all the political sides in Lebanon,” Diab said after meeting with Rai on Saturday.

“We are fundamentally a neutral country...and in the end, our salvation is in our neutrality,” Rai told local broadcaster LBCI later on Saturday.

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Palestinians in Jenin Observe a General Strike

A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinians in Jenin Observe a General Strike

A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces.
An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area.
Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others.
Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups.
The Palestinian Authority blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws.” It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there.