Geagea Slams Judiciary over Summoning Following Beirut Clashes

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai met on Friday Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. (Photo: Maronite Patriarchate)
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai met on Friday Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. (Photo: Maronite Patriarchate)
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Geagea Slams Judiciary over Summoning Following Beirut Clashes

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai met on Friday Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. (Photo: Maronite Patriarchate)
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai met on Friday Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. (Photo: Maronite Patriarchate)

Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea has criticized the military judiciary and accused it of aligning with Hezbollah.

Earlier this week, Geagea was summoned for questioning over street tension that erupted on Oct. 14 during a rally called for by Amal movement and Hezbollah to demand the removal of Tarek Bitar, the judge investigating last year’s powerful Beirut port explosion.

Seven people were killed and dozens were wounded during the clashes.

Fadi Akiki, a representative of the military court, had “instructed the army intelligence to summon Geagea and take his statement based on information provided by arrested LF members.”

In television remarks on Thursday, Geagea denied being informed of the summons, expressing his readiness to give his statement to Akiki, provided that the latter “listens to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah” before him.

Local media reported on Friday that State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat has suspended State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki’s decision to summon Geagea.

However, Oueidat’s office denied the reports, noting that Akiki’s decision is “being followed up by the relevant authorities to determine whether the interrogation should happen at the Intelligence Directorate or before the judge who tasked the Intelligence Directorate with hearing the LF leader’s testimony.”

“No timeframe has been set” for the authorities’ deliberations, the office added.

During his television appearance, Geagea referred to Akiki as “Hezbollah’s commissioner.”

“It appears that the main party in the Ain al-Remmaneh events [referring to Hezbollah] considers itself above the law, and unfortunately the military judiciary has kept up with it so far,” he remarked.

In parallel, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai underlined his support for the independence of the Judiciary and rejected what he described as “discretion” in dealing with the Beirut port explosion and the Tayyouneh events.

Rai received on Friday Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, to whom he affirmed “absolute support for the military institution and the independence of the judiciary, and the necessity of the investigation to include all parties without discretion.”

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Rai “does not cover any perpetrator, and calls for justice for all,” but also stresses the need to hold all perpetrators accountable.



Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
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Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)

Hundreds of people, mainly Tunisians, launched on Monday a land convoy bound for Gaza, seeking to "break the siege" on the Palestinian territory, activists said.

Organizers said the nine-bus convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a "symbolic act" by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as "the hungriest place on Earth".

The "Soumoud" convoy, meaning "steadfastness" in Arabic, includes doctors and aims to arrive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, "by the end of the week", activist Jawaher Channa told AFP.

It is set to pass through Libya and Egypt, although Cairo has yet to provide passage permits, she added.

"We are about a thousand people, and we will have more join us along the way," said Channa, spokeswoman of the Tunisian Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, the group organizing the caravan.

"Egypt has not yet given us permission to cross its borders, but we will see what happens when we get there," she said.

Channa said the convoy was not set to face issues crossing Libya, "whose people have historically supported the Palestinian cause", despite recent deadly clashes in the country that remains divided between two governments.

Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the group, which is set to travel along the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, before continuing on to Rafah through Egypt.

After 21 months of war, Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

On June 1, the Madleen aid boat, boarded by activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and European parliament member Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan, set sail for Gaza from Italy.

But on Monday morning Israel intercepted it, preventing it from reaching the Palestinian territory.

The UN has warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine.