Mikati Urges Lebanese Parties Not to Offend Brotherly Countries

 Lebanon’s Prime Minister-Designate Najib Mikati speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon August 16, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon’s Prime Minister-Designate Najib Mikati speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon August 16, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Mikati Urges Lebanese Parties Not to Offend Brotherly Countries

 Lebanon’s Prime Minister-Designate Najib Mikati speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon August 16, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon’s Prime Minister-Designate Najib Mikati speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon August 16, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

Lebanon’s Minister of Information George Kordahi announced his resignation on Friday saying that he has decided “to put the national interest above personal considerations.”

His resignation came weeks following offensive statements he made about the war in Yemen, which sparked a diplomatic rift with the Gulf States.

The Lebanese authorities are seeking to mend the relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. In this regard, Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed that Kordahi’s resignation “was necessary after the crisis that arose with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a number of GCC countries, and would open a door to addressing the problem…”

Mikati called upon all Lebanese parties to put Lebanon’s interests above all considerations, and not to offend in any way the brotherly countries or interfere in their affairs.

“Lebanon looks forward to the best relations with its Arab brothers and to the historical ties that bring our states and peoples together,” he stated.

The premier added that the government was “keen on implementing the provisions of the ministerial statement to strengthen Lebanon’s relations with brotherly Arab States… and rejects everything that could harm the security and stability of the Gulf.”

The Lebanese premier also stressed that the government “will be strict and take the necessary measures to control the maritime and land borders to prevent all kinds of smuggling operations that harm the security of brotherly Arab countries, especially the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.”

Kordahi, who is affiliated with the Marada Movement, refused to resign in the weeks that followed the crisis, despite calls by Mikati and Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai for the need to prioritize national interests.

He finally signed his resignation letter on Friday, and handed separate copies to President Michel Aoun and Mikati.



Israeli Military Changes Initial Account of Gaza Aid Worker Killings

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Changes Initial Account of Gaza Aid Worker Killings

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli military has provided new details that changed its initial account of the killing of 15 emergency workers near the southern Gaza city of Rafah last month but said investigators were still examining the evidence.

The 15 paramedics and emergency responders were shot dead on March 23 and buried in a shallow grave where their bodies were found a week later by officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Another man is still missing.

The military initially said soldiers had opened fire on vehicles that approached their position "suspiciously" in the dark without lights or markings. It said they killed nine fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were travelling in Palestinian Red Crescent vehicles.

But video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the dead men and published by the Palestinian Red Crescent showed emergency workers in their uniforms and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers.

The only known survivor of the incident, Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic Munther Abed, also said he had seen soldiers opening fire on clearly marked emergency response vehicles.

An Israeli military official said late on Saturday the investigators were examining the video and conclusions were expected to be presented to army commanders on Sunday.

Israeli media briefed by the military reported that troops had identified at least six of the 15 dead as members of the groups. However, the official declined to provide any evidence or detail of how the identifications were made, saying he did not want to share classified information.

"According to our information, there were terrorists there but this investigation is not over," he told reporters at the briefing late on Saturday.

The UN and the Palestinian Red Cross have demanded an independent inquiry into the killing of the paramedics.

Red Crescent officials have said 17 paramedics and emergency workers from the Red Crescent, the Civil Emergency service and the UN had been dispatched to respond to reports of injuries from Israeli air strikes.

Apart from Abed, who was detained for several hours before being released, another worker is still missing.

OPENED FIRE

The military official said initial findings from the investigation showed troops had opened fire on a vehicle at around 4 a.m., killing two members of the Hamas internal security forces, and taking another prisoner, who the official said had admitted under interrogation to being in Hamas.

As time passed, several vehicles passed along the road until, at around 6 a.m., he said troops received word from aerial surveillance that a suspicious group of vehicles was approaching.

"They feel this is another incident like what happened at 4 a.m. and they opened fire," the official said.

He said aerial surveillance footage showed the troops were at some distance when they opened fire, and he denied reports that the troops handcuffed at least some of the paramedics and shot them at close range.

"It's not from close. They opened fire from afar," he said. "There's no mistreatment of the people there."

He said the soldiers had approached the group they had shot, identifying at least some of them as fighters. However, he did not explain what evidence had prompted the assessment.

"And in their eyes, they had an encounter with terrorists, that is a successful encounter with terrorists."

He said the troops had informed the UN of the incident on the same day and initially covered the bodies with camouflage netting until they could be recovered. UN officials did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

"There was no incident where the Israeli army tried to cover up. On the contrary, they called the UN immediately."

Later, when the UN did not immediately come to take the bodies, the soldiers covered them with sand to stop animals from getting at them, the official said.

He said the vehicles were pushed out of the way by a heavy engineering vehicle to clear the road but he could not explain why the vehicles were crushed by the engineering vehicle and then buried.