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Israel Blames Syrian Firm for Oil Spill that Reached Lebanon

A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel’s Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, Feb. 21. (Reuters)
A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel’s Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, Feb. 21. (Reuters)
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Israel Blames Syrian Firm for Oil Spill that Reached Lebanon

A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel’s Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, Feb. 21. (Reuters)
A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel’s Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, Feb. 21. (Reuters)

Information collected by an Israeli-founded private intelligence firm has revealed the identity of the owners of the Emerald, the tanker suspected of spilling massive amounts of oil off the Israeli coast in February, the Environmental Protection Ministry said Sunday.

The investigation by the firm Black Cube found that Emerald – which is registered in the Marshall Islands – is owned by a company called Emerald Marine LTD, reported Israeli media.

The information Black Cube gave the ministry indicated further that a company names Oryx Shipping has ownership over the Emerald. Oryx Shipping is registered in Piraeus, Greece, and owned by the Syrian Malah family.

Its ships are insured by The Islamic P&I Club, known as one of the only firms in the world willing to insure Iranian vessels.

The Malah group holds a number of shell companies in the Marshall Islands, Panama, and even one British company. All of these are registered to the same address in Piraeus.

In Lebanon, founder and manager of JUSTICIA, Paul Morcos told Asharq Al-Awsat that the source of the spill should be verified before Beirut resorts to legal action.

He said previous international oil spill cases offer compensation to countries whose shores have been affected.

Lebanon must pass a decree related to similar incidents before moving forward, he said.

He further revealed that JUSTICIA had prepared a bill to combat oil spill, in cooperation with the Lebanese Petroleum Administration.

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Lebanon Parliament Adjourns for Consultations after Failing to Elect Aoun in First Round

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Parliament Adjourns for Consultations after Failing to Elect Aoun in First Round

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri adjourned a session held on Thursday to elect a president for two hours of consultations, after a first round of voting failed to produce enough votes for Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun.
Aoun needs 86 votes to be elected but received 71. Two political sources said he was likely to cross the 86-vote threshold in a second session on Thursday.

Lawmakers began the session amid expectations it could see Aoun elected as president following a vacancy of more than two years.
The 128-lawmaker chamber, which has failed to reach consensus a dozen times amid tensions between the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its opponents, started discussions at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
Aoun, no relation to the former president, is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, the leader of Marada movement with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, on Wednesday, Franjieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the army chief.
Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.
As a sitting army commander, Joseph Aoun is technically barred from becoming president by Lebanon's constitution. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.
Under normal circumstances, a presidential candidate in Lebanon can be elected by a two-thirds majority of the 128-member house in the first round of voting, or by a simple majority in a subsequent round.
But because of the constitutional issues surrounding his election, Aoun would need a two-thirds majority even in the second round.
Other contenders include Jihad Azour, a former finance minister who is now the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and Elias al-Baysari, the acting head of Lebanon’s General Security agency.
A president is needed to appoint a permanent prime minister and cabinet. The caretaker government that has run Lebanon for the last two years has reduced powers because it was not appointed by a sitting president.
The next government will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.
Lebanon is six years into an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.
The country's leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bail-out package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.