Hezbollah Denies Placing Obstacles to Lebanese Government Formation

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem speaks in the Ghobeiry neighborhood of southern Beirut on May 13, 2016. AFP file photo
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem speaks in the Ghobeiry neighborhood of southern Beirut on May 13, 2016. AFP file photo
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Hezbollah Denies Placing Obstacles to Lebanese Government Formation

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem speaks in the Ghobeiry neighborhood of southern Beirut on May 13, 2016. AFP file photo
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem speaks in the Ghobeiry neighborhood of southern Beirut on May 13, 2016. AFP file photo

Hezbollah deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said Friday the party has placed no obstacles to the formation of a new government, adding that it will accept any agreement between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on the lineup.

“Hezbollah will be cooperative with any lineup, when submitted,” Qassem said in an interview with a radio station, adding that the party supports forming a cabinet as quickly as possible.

He pointed out that the main obstacle to the move is local, ruling out foreign interference.

He called for solving the dispute between the president and the premier-designate, and denied that Hezbollah had discussed with any party its alleged demand for a veto power in the new cabinet.

Iran or others have nothing to do with Hezbollah’s position on the government, he said.

Regarding a French initiative to end Lebanon’s cabinet stalemate, Qassem said President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to resolve the country’s main problems has been activated, but has no clear vision.

Meanwhile, Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan called for a salvation cabinet instead of a confrontational government.

The same position was echoed by Amal Movement, which called for a national salvation government capable of implementing political reforms through the Taef Accord.



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.