Putin Affirms Russia’s Commitment to Support Lebanon’s Sovereignty, Unity

 Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 26, 2019. Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 26, 2019. Reuters
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Putin Affirms Russia’s Commitment to Support Lebanon’s Sovereignty, Unity

 Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 26, 2019. Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 26, 2019. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin has affirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty and unity. This came in a letter he sent Wednesday marking Lebanon’s Independence Day.

Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov delivered the letter to President Michel Aoun.

Putin underscored the importance of preventing any foreign intervention in Lebanon’s internal affairs. He also expressed his confidence about the future of bilateral ties and means of developing them to serve both peoples’ interests and enhance security and stability in the Middle East region.

Aoun discussed with Rudakov the outcomes of the recent visit by Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib to Moscow and the talks he held with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov to bolster relations between both countries.

He asked the ambassador to thank Putin for his prompt response to Lebanon’s request for the satellite images Russia had for Beirut’s port before and after the blast on Aug. 4 last year.

“We will hand the images to judicial authorities, hoping that they help in revealing new facts about this crime,” Aoun affirmed.

Russia handed over on Monday satellite images prepared by its space agency Roscosmos for the Beirut port after a request from the Lebanese president.

Aoun further hailed Moscow’s initiatives to help Lebanon overcome the current harsh circumstances.



Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
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Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert said that the “humanitarian city” that Israel’s defense minister has proposed building on the ruins of Rafah would be a concentration camp, and forcing Palestinians inside would be ethnic cleansing, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

Israel was already committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, Olmert told the daily, and construction of the camp would mark an escalation.

Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has ordered the military to start drawing up operational plans for construction of the “humanitarian city” on the ruins of southern Gaza, to house initially 600,000 people and eventually the entire Palestinian population, stated the Guardian.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told he daily, when asked about the plans laid out by Katz last week. Once inside, Palestinians would not be allowed to leave, except to go to other countries, Katz said.

The “humanitarian city” project is backed by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the area Katz envisages for the camp is a sticking point in the faltering negotiations for a ceasefire deal, Israeli media have reported.