Lebanon's Siniora Will Be 'Fully Invested' in Elections, Not as Candidate

 Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. (Getty Images)
Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. (Getty Images)
TT

Lebanon's Siniora Will Be 'Fully Invested' in Elections, Not as Candidate

 Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. (Getty Images)
Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. (Getty Images)

Lebanese former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would abstain from running for the upcoming parliamentary elections, but called on citizens to massively vote in the polls.

Speaking during a press conference in Beirut on Tuesday, Siniora said: “Amid this crushing crisis, which is considered the most dangerous in the history of Lebanon, and given the failure of many reform attempts for which we have fought over many years… And out of our conviction in the necessity of liberating the country from subjugation and tutelage, the hegemony of illegal weapons, and political corruption… we believe that Lebanon needs all good efforts to restore the role and exclusive authority of the Lebanese state over its entire territory… and to fully commit to implementing reforms.”

The former premier announced that he would not run in the May elections, while calling on his supporters in Beirut, Sidon, the North, the Bekaa, and Mount Lebanon, to participate massively “in this important and crucial vote.”

“My decision not to run for the elections does not mean that I will be boycotting; on the contrary, I hope my position makes room for the new generation. I will be fully invested in the elections in all their aspects, without running for office,” he told the news conference.

He urged citizens to turn out to vote “so as not to allow opportunists to gain ground amid calls not to participate in this national duty.”



At Least 42 People Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled
TT

At Least 42 People Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled

Israeli strikes killed at least 42 people in Gaza, including children, overnight and into Friday, hospital and emergency response workers said.
Staff at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said that more than a dozen women and children were killed in strikes in central Gaza, including in Nuseirat, Zawaida, Maghazi and Deir al-Balah. Dozens of people were killed across the enclave the previous day.
“We woke up to the missile strike. We found the whole house disintegrated,” Abdul Rahman Al-Nabrisi said in the Maghazi refugee camp.
Later Friday, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said that an airstrike killed three people in a car in Zawaida in central Gaza. And the Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government, said that an airstrike killed seven people, including four children and a woman, in the Shijaiyah neighborhood outside Gaza City, and another strike killed two people at Al-Samer junction in Gaza City.
The Israeli army said in a statement that during the past day it had struck dozens of Hamas gathering points and command centers throughout Gaza. And it warned people to leave an area of central Gaza, saying that it would attack following launches toward Israel. The military said that a few projectiles entered from central and northern Gaza, with no injuries reported.