Lebanon: No End in Sight in Cabinet Formation Impasse

 File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)
File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)
TT
20

Lebanon: No End in Sight in Cabinet Formation Impasse

 File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)
File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)

No major efforts are being exerted to make a breakthrough in Lebanon's government formation process, despite shy attempts by a number of politicians that have failed to yield tangible results.

In this regard, Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzeddine said Tuesday that his party is holding talks with all sides over the government formation issue to remove obstacles hindering the formation of a new cabinet capable of facing Lebanon’s severe economic, social and financial crises.

Ezzeddine said the new cabinet must address the people’s needs by adopting reforms to fight corruption.

Meanwhile, sources from the Free Patriotic Movement and the Shiite duo said there no new developments regarding the cabinet formation process, affirming that there are no current talks between the political parties.

For their part, FPM sources blamed Hariri for the deadlock, saying there is no hope for talks to take place since Hariri is still traveling.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement supported Speaker Nabih Berri’s initiative.

“It became clear that until today, there is no decision to form a cabinet, particularly from President Aoun and MP Gebran Bassil,” the sources said, adding that the US and Arab countries support Berri’s initiative.

The sources were referring to the separate visits that Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry made to Beirut last week to discuss the political and financial crises.



Food Security Experts Warn Gaza Is at Critical Risk of Famine if Israel Doesn’t End Its Campaign 

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20

Food Security Experts Warn Gaza Is at Critical Risk of Famine if Israel Doesn’t End Its Campaign 

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)

The Gaza Strip is at critical risk of famine if Israel doesn’t lift its blockade and stop its military campaign, food security experts said Monday.

Outright famine is the most likely scenario unless conditions change, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.

Nearly a half million Palestinians are in “catastrophic” levels of hunger, meaning they face possible starvation, the report said, while another million are at “emergency” levels of hunger.

Israel has banned any food, shelter, medicine or other goods from entering the Palestinian territory for the past 10 weeks, even as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations.

Gaza’s population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive, because Israel’s 19-month-old military campaign has wiped away most capacity to produce food inside the territory.

The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not respond to a request for comment on the IPC report.

The army has said that enough assistance entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire that Israel shattered in mid-March when it relaunched its military campaign.

Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds.