Qatari FM Meets with Lebanese Officials

President Michel Aoun meets with Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at Baabda Palace. Dalati and Nohra photo
President Michel Aoun meets with Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at Baabda Palace. Dalati and Nohra photo
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Qatari FM Meets with Lebanese Officials

President Michel Aoun meets with Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at Baabda Palace. Dalati and Nohra photo
President Michel Aoun meets with Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at Baabda Palace. Dalati and Nohra photo

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani kicked off Tuesday an official visit to Beirut, where he met with high-ranking officials to discuss Lebanon’s political impasse.

The Qatari FM held talks at Baabda Palace with President Michel Aoun, who said Doha has always stood by Lebanon, adding that any step taken to help resolve the current crisis is welcomed and appreciated by the Lebanese.

The Qatari official also met with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, but he left without making any statement.

Furthermore, he held talks with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, whose press office announced that discussions between them “touched on the general situation, the latest political developments, and means to bolster bilateral relations.”

In addition to his meeting with politicians, the Qatari minister held talks with Lebanese Army chief General Joseph Aoun at his office in Yarzeh.



Israel’s Defense Minister Says Troops Will Remain in Syrian Buffer Zone Indefinitely

Israeli soldiers patrol the top of Mount Hermon near the border with Lebanon in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on 20 November 2023. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers patrol the top of Mount Hermon near the border with Lebanon in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on 20 November 2023. (AFP)
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Israel’s Defense Minister Says Troops Will Remain in Syrian Buffer Zone Indefinitely

Israeli soldiers patrol the top of Mount Hermon near the border with Lebanon in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on 20 November 2023. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers patrol the top of Mount Hermon near the border with Lebanon in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on 20 November 2023. (AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the Syrian summit of Mount Hermon, currently occupied by Israeli forces, on Tuesday and said Israel will remain there and in the buffer zone for an “unlimited time.”

Katz said Israel must stay in the zone to ensure “hostile forces” will not gain a foothold on the Israeli border nor anywhere within 50 kilometers (30 miles) beyond the zone, citing security for Israeli residents in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

For decades, the Syrian-Israeli border remained largely quiet under a 1974 agreement that established a UN-patrolled demilitarized buffer zone after the 1973 Mideast war.

But after Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ouster in December, Israeli forces entered the 400-square-kilometer (155-square mile) buffer zone, calling it a temporary move to block hostile forces.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said Israel will stay in the zone until another arrangement is in place “that ensures Israel’s security.” That drew criticism from residents of the zone and Arab countries.