Security Council Calls on Lebanon to Implement Reforms

A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Security Council Calls on Lebanon to Implement Reforms

A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The UN Security Council on Friday called on Lebanese officials to implement much needed reforms and hold free and fair elections.

In a statement, Council members “reiterated with urgency the need to implement previously outlined, tangible reforms which are necessary to help the Lebanese population.”

An economic meltdown has sank the once middle-income nation into poverty.

The Council also underlined the importance of delivering the reforms in order to ensure effective international support.

Council members also underlined the importance of holding free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections as scheduled on May15, “ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of women as candidates and voters in the election.”

They stressed once again the need for a swift, independent, impartial, thorough, and transparent investigation into the explosion that struck Beirut port on August 4, 2020.

The blast was caused by the detonation of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse at the port for years, apparently with the knowledge of senior politicians and security officials who did nothing about it.

The members of the Council “called upon all Lebanese parties to implement a tangible policy of disassociation from any external conflicts, as an important priority, as spelled out in previous declarations, in particular the 2012 Baabda Declaration.”



Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
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Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

An Israeli drone strike on Thursday hit a car at an army checkpoint in the southern port city of Sidon, killing three people and wounding several others, including Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers, Lebanon’s state news agency and the army said.

The Lebanese army said in a communique that three soldiers and four Malaysian peacekeepers were injured.

The National News Agency said one of the wounded was taken to the hospital while the peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack at the northern entrance of Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city. There was no immediate information on the identities of those who died.

The UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL said in a statement that a convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing by when a drone strike took place near it. The strike lightly injured five peacekeepers, it said.
“We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence,” the statement said.

A drone strike earlier Thursday hit a car on a main highway just outside Beirut, killing one woman, according to local media.

The attack took place near Araya, where several similar drone strikes have taken place in the past week.