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Tunisian Opposition Condemns PM, Requests Apology

Tunisian Prime Minister Hicham el-Mechichi (File photo: AFP)
Tunisian Prime Minister Hicham el-Mechichi (File photo: AFP)
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Tunisian Opposition Condemns PM, Requests Apology

Tunisian Prime Minister Hicham el-Mechichi (File photo: AFP)
Tunisian Prime Minister Hicham el-Mechichi (File photo: AFP)

A number of Tunisian and international human rights organizations and opposition parties condemned the recent statement of Prime Minister Hicham el-Mechichi on irregular immigration and terrorism.

During a special interview with France24, Mechichi pointed out that illegal immigration is linked to terrorism, noting that all Tunisians who present a threat to France should return home.

The Democratic Current party said Mechichi’s interview was “disgraceful”, calling on the prime minister to apologize for the shocking statement because it feeds the stigma about many Tunisian expatriates, and legitimizes the European far-right rhetoric.

Head of the Democratic Patriots' Unified Party, Mongi Rahoui, said that the prime minister's statement is “strange and irresponsible."

Rahoui considered the interview a bad indication of the political situation in Tunisia, adding that whole Tunisian families resorted to irregular immigration as the last option after losing hope of having a decent life in the country.

He called on the premier to apologize to those families.

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights also denounced Mechichi’s statement, saying it confirms a lack of understanding and experience as well as an inability to deal with an issue that could potentially damage the image of Tunisians.

The President of the forum, Abdul Rahman al-Huthaili, told Asharq Al-Awsat that such statements are an indication that the government is unaware of the reality and is not concerned with the hopes and expectations of the Tunisians.

Huthaili stressed that the citizens’ despair along with lack of opportunities in the country lead them to illegal immigration.

Asked about the protests demanding development and employment, Huthaili stressed that all indications show that the social situation will only worsen in the country, noting that the government is still not concerned with the people's needs and demands.

He asserted that the protests are the result of the failure of successive governments, and their continued adoption of the same failed pattern.

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Arab World

Rubio Hails Lebanon for Peace Efforts After Meeting Aoun

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a press conference, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, Lebanon January 17, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a press conference, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, Lebanon January 17, 2025. (Reuters)
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Rubio Hails Lebanon for Peace Efforts After Meeting Aoun

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a press conference, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, Lebanon January 17, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a press conference, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, Lebanon January 17, 2025. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington on Sunday, praising the country for its "move towards peace" after the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks. 

It was the first trip to the US capital by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Suleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009. 

Aoun and Rubio held talks at the State Department, and Lebanese officials said Aoun is due to meet with President Donald Trump on Tuesday. 

Rubio commended the Lebanese government for its "determined effort to reclaim Lebanon's sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace," the State Department said following the talks. 

Lebanon and Israel, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, began US-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war. 

On June 26, they reached a framework agreement in Washington under which the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with two "pilot zones." 

But the agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected both the deal and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations that underpin it. 

Following the latest round of talks last week in Rome, Israel and Lebanon agreed on the structure and guidelines for implementing the pilot zones, according to the United States. 

Rubio said Washington was committed "to supporting the successful implementation of the Trilateral Framework and to backing the Government of Lebanon's efforts to deliver peace, economic recovery, and a better future for the Lebanese people." 

Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it began striking Israel in support of its backer Iran. 

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion, and despite a ceasefire it continues sporadic attacks and holds territory in the south in what it describes as a "security zone." 

While in Washington, Aoun planned talks "on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire" as well as on "the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies," his office said earlier. 

The United States carried out airstrikes on Sunday to "punish" Iran after the first US military deaths since open hostilities rekindled the Middle East war. 

Arab World

Jordan Summons Iranian Diplomat Over ‘Unjustified’ Attacks

The Jordanian capital, Amman. Petra file photo
The Jordanian capital, Amman. Petra file photo
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Jordan Summons Iranian Diplomat Over ‘Unjustified’ Attacks

The Jordanian capital, Amman. Petra file photo
The Jordanian capital, Amman. Petra file photo

Jordan has summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Amman over what it ‌called "unjustified ‌and blatant Iranian ‌attacks" ⁠and "provocative and inflammatory ⁠statements targeting the Kingdom's territory," Jordan's ministry of foreign affairs ⁠said in ‌a ‌statement on ‌Sunday. 

Over the ‌last week, Jordan has repeatedly said that ‌it has intercepted Iranian missiles flying ⁠over ⁠its territory, including three that it shot down on Sunday, according to the country's military.  

Arab World

Palestinians Say Israeli Settlers Torch Mosque, Factory

A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)
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Palestinians Say Israeli Settlers Torch Mosque, Factory

A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli settlers set fire overnight to a mosque in a village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Sunday, as an AFP journalist saw the structure's entrance scorched and Hebrew graffiti sprayed on its walls.

The incident came during a period of increased attacks against Palestinian communities by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in 2023.

More than two dozen settlers, some masked, attacked the Al-Taqwa mosque in the village of Al-Tuwani during the night and set it on fire, Mohammed Rabie, head of the village council, told AFP.

The settlers also set fire to two houses and a dairy factory, he said, adding the attackers spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on the walls of the mosque.

Rabie said the settlers fled after villagers emerged from their homes, adding that local volunteers managed to extinguish the flames before they spread further.

AFP photographs showed a child and an elderly man inspecting the charred entrance and windows of the mosque, where part of a prayer carpet had also been burned.

Rabie said the dairy factory, run by women from the Masafer Yatta community, suffered extensive damage.

"We thank God that this attack did not turn into a tragedy with loss of life," he said.

The Israeli police said it deployed officers to the village last night "after a report of suspects who caused damage at the site, including a vehicle that was set on fire, damage to the door of a prayer structure, and graffiti sprayed on walls."

"The investigation into the circumstances of the incident... is still ongoing."

"The settlers' attack took place in full view of the Israeli army," Palestinian activist Osama Makhamra told AFP, noting that an Israeli military watchtower stands close to the mosque that was set ablaze.

Rabie, however, said Israeli army, police and fire service personnel arrived in the village about half an hour after the attack and inspected the damage to the mosque and other property.

The Palestinian religious affairs ministry condemned the attack.

In a statement, the ministry described the arson as "a full-fledged terrorist act", accusing Israel's "extremist occupation government" of encouraging settler violence in an effort to displace Palestinians from Masafer Yatta and turn the conflict into "a religious war".

In a recent report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank had reached "unprecedented" levels, averaging six attacks per day that resulted in casualties or property damage.

Excluding East Jerusalem, around three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank alongside more than 500,000 Israelis residing in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.