Lebanese Ministerial Delegation to Visit Syria

Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
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Lebanese Ministerial Delegation to Visit Syria

Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

A Lebanese ministerial delegation is expected to carry out an official visit to Damascus this week for the first time since 2011.

The visit aims to discuss an agreement to import natural gas from Egypt through Syria and Jordan to the Deir Ammar power plant in north Lebanon.

President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab signed an extraordinary decree tasking deputy Prime Minister and caretaker Defense and Foreign Minister Zeina Akar to head the delegation, which should also include Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni, Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar and Abbas Ibrahim, who heads Lebanon's General Security Directorate.

“The ministers were surprised by the assignment and said they learned about the visit from the media,” ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.

The sources said the date of the visit has not been set yet, but they confirmed that Ibrahim is coordinating with Damascus on the visit. “Talks in Damascus should reactivate an agreement to import Egyptian gas through the Jordan-Syria line to Lebanon,” the sources added.

They also confirmed that Egypt was willing to export gas to Lebanon, while the US and Jordan have both facilitated the matter.

Lebanon relies on Egyptian natural gas to increase the production of power, as the country struggles with crippling fuel shortages.



Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Kill at Least 20 People

Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader  BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE
Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE
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Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Kill at Least 20 People

Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader  BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE
Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE

Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people.
One of the strikes overnight and into Monday hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children.
That’s according to the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Hospital records show another six killed in a strike on people securing an aid convoy and another two killed in a strike on a car in Muwasi. One person was killed in a separate strike in the area,The Associated Press reported.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah said three bodies arrived after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas fighter in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when a Hamas-led group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 of Hamas, without providing evidence.