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Tel Aviv Says Israeli Gas Will Reach Lebanon Through Egypt, Jordan

Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)
Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)
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Tel Aviv Says Israeli Gas Will Reach Lebanon Through Egypt, Jordan

Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)
Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)

The Israeli Minister of Energy, Karine el-Harar, confirmed that "Israeli gas will reach Lebanon," an announcement denied earlier in Lebanon.

Several official Lebanese sources denied this news in the past weeks, asserting that the gas supply agreement states that the gas is Egyptian and not Israeli.

However, when asked about the possibility of Israeli gas exported to Egypt and Jordan making its way to Lebanon, Harrar said, "so be it."

Harar participated in Egypt Petroleum Show 2022 (EGYPS) at the head of a large Israeli delegation.

Harar added, "I don't care about that. We sell gas to Egypt," and Cairo sells it to others.

The Israeli energy economy is a bridge for consolidating relations with regional countries, she said, adding that she is pleased to have the opportunity to represent Israel in EGYPS, hoping it will be another step on the road to achieving peace.

Harrar, who uses a wheelchair due to a disease that left her unable to stand, cried when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi treated her in a special way.

Sisi was seen walking to the other side of the hall to welcome the Israeli Minister.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised Sisi for his special greeting.

Bennett retweeted video footage of the moment and wrote that he was "touched" by the gesture.

"President al-Sisi, you've touched us all," tweeted Bennett.

The Ministry of Energy issued a statement announcing that this is the first time Israeli officials have participated in the conference.

The Israeli delegation included the Ministry's Director-General, Lior Schillat, senior officials, and representatives of various Israeli companies producing gas and electric power.

Meanwhile, Egypt's petroleum minister Tarek el-Molla told the same event that the timeline for sending gas to Lebanon is flexible as it depends on Jordan and Lebanon.

He added that the technical aspects of supporting gas exports to Lebanon would be finished by February.

Jordanian Minister of Energy Saleh al-Kharabsheh announced that exporting electricity to Lebanon will start next month after finalizing a funding agreement with the World Bank.

The editor of Arab affairs in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Israelis know that Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah did not object to the gas deal.

She claimed that he turned a blind eye to the deal because there isn't any serious alternative, neither from Iran nor any other party.

The arrival of gas from Jordan is the shortest and fastest way to solve the energy crisis in Lebanon.

The gas reaches Jordan from Israel and Egypt.

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Arab World

Arab-Islamic Statement Rejects Link Between Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland and Attempts to Expel Palestinians

People walk along a street before the opening of polling stations for voting in the municipal elections in Hodan district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
People walk along a street before the opening of polling stations for voting in the municipal elections in Hodan district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
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Arab-Islamic Statement Rejects Link Between Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland and Attempts to Expel Palestinians

People walk along a street before the opening of polling stations for voting in the municipal elections in Hodan district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
People walk along a street before the opening of polling stations for voting in the municipal elections in Hodan district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

A growing number of countries are rejecting Israel's recognition of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland as an independent nation, the first by any country in more than 30 years.

A joint statement by more than 20 mostly Middle Eastern or African countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Saturday rejected Israel's recognition “given the serious repercussions of such unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole.”

The joint statement also noted “the full rejection of any potential link between such measure and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday that he, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, signed a joint declaration “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.”

Somalia’s federal government on Friday strongly rejected what it described as an unlawful move by Israel, and reaffirmed that Somaliland remains an integral part of Somalia’s sovereign territory.

African regional bodies also rejected Israel's recognition. African Union Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said that any attempt to undermine Somalia’s sovereignty risks peace and stability on the continent.

East African governing body IGAD said in a statement that Somalia’s sovereignty was recognized under international law and any unilateral recognition “runs contrary to the charter of the United Nations” and agreements establishing the bloc and the African Union.

The US State Department on Saturday said that it continued to recognize the territorial integrity of Somalia, "which includes the territory of Somaliland.”

Arab World

Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian authorities arrested nine people linked to three charitable organizations on suspicion of raising millions of euros in funds for the Palestinian group Hamas, anti-terrorism prosecutors said in a statement Saturday. 

The suspects are accused of sending about 7 million euros ($8.2 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas,” the statement said. 

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, prosecutors said, describing him as the “head of the Italian cell of the Hamas organization.” 

The European Union has Hamas listed on its terror list. 

According to Italian prosecutors, who collaborated with other EU countries in the probe, the illegal funds were delivered through “triangulation operations” via bank transfers or through organizations based abroad to associations based in Gaza, which have been declared illegal by Israel for their ties to Hamas. 

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi wrote on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.” 

There was no immediate comment from the suspects or the associations. 

In January 202, the European Council decided to extend existing restrictive measures against 12 individuals and three entities that support the financing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Arab World

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.