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Lebanon, Syria, Egypt Sign Gas Import Agreement

Seated left to right, Director General of the Syrian General Petroleum Corporation Nabih Khrestin, Director-General of Oil Facilities at Lebanese Energy Ministry Aurore Feghali, and the Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Magdy Galal, sign deals to bring gas from Egypt through Syria to Lebanon, as the World Bank's Regional Director Saroj Kumar Jha looks on via video, at the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP)
Seated left to right, Director General of the Syrian General Petroleum Corporation Nabih Khrestin, Director-General of Oil Facilities at Lebanese Energy Ministry Aurore Feghali, and the Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Magdy Galal, sign deals to bring gas from Egypt through Syria to Lebanon, as the World Bank's Regional Director Saroj Kumar Jha looks on via video, at the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP)
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Lebanon, Syria, Egypt Sign Gas Import Agreement

Seated left to right, Director General of the Syrian General Petroleum Corporation Nabih Khrestin, Director-General of Oil Facilities at Lebanese Energy Ministry Aurore Feghali, and the Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Magdy Galal, sign deals to bring gas from Egypt through Syria to Lebanon, as the World Bank's Regional Director Saroj Kumar Jha looks on via video, at the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP)
Seated left to right, Director General of the Syrian General Petroleum Corporation Nabih Khrestin, Director-General of Oil Facilities at Lebanese Energy Ministry Aurore Feghali, and the Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Magdy Galal, sign deals to bring gas from Egypt through Syria to Lebanon, as the World Bank's Regional Director Saroj Kumar Jha looks on via video, at the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP)

Lebanon, Syria and Egypt on Tuesday agreed to ship 650 million cubic meters of natural gas per year from Egypt to Lebanon via Syria, part of a US-backed effort to address Lebanon's crippling blackouts with electricity and gas transfers.

The deal, signed at a ceremony at the Lebanese energy ministry in Beirut, would see gas piped to Lebanon's northern Deir Ammar power plant, where it could add some 450 megawatts, or around four extra hours of power per day to the grid.

Deir Ammar is one of several plants in Lebanon that can run on both gas and diesel, but use the latter as the gas pipeline has yet to come online.

The deal also still requires the approval of the World Bank, which has pledged financing, and the United States for compliance with its Syria sanctions regime, Lebanon's caretaker energy minister Walid Fayyad told Reuters.

Fayyad announced the agreement alongside representatives from Egypt and Syria, as well as Magdy Galal, chairman of the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding.

They did not disclose the financial terms.

A statement issued later by the office of Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati after his meeting with Galal and Egyptian ambassador Yaser Alawi quoted Alawi as saying the price offered was "30 percent less than global market prices."

Lebanon's state-run power company produces just a couple hours of power per day, forcing many to pay for expensive private generator subscriptions.

To ease the power crunch, a plan was floated last year for Lebanon to receive electricity from Jordan and natural gas from Egypt, both via Syria, which would add up to 700 MW to Lebanon's grid.

The World Bank had agreed to provide financing if Lebanon enacts long-awaited power sector reforms to reduce waste and boost tariff collection.

Lebanon's cabinet passed a broad electricity reform plan in March but has yet to implement key components.

The transmission through war-ravaged Syria had also prompted concerns about exposure to US sanctions, which penalize anyone dealing with the government in Damascus.

US officials say they have given countries "pre-clearance" to engage in talks without the specter of sanctions but could only fully determine compliance once contracts were signed.

Fayyad said he hoped the new deal would pave the way for World Bank financing and US sanctions waivers, saying "I think we did everything that they asked for."

There was no immediate comment from the US embassy or the World Bank office in Lebanon.

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Arab World

At Least 25 Killed as Russian, Syrian Jets Intensify Bombing of Syrian Opposition Territory

An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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At Least 25 Killed as Russian, Syrian Jets Intensify Bombing of Syrian Opposition Territory

An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

At least 25 people were killed in northwestern Syria in air strikes carried out by the Syrian government and Russia, the Syrian opposition-run rescue service known as the White Helmets said early on Monday.
Russian and Syrian jets struck the opposition-held city of Idlib in northern Syria on Sunday, military sources said, as President Bashar al-Assad vowed to crush insurgents who had swept into the city of Aleppo.
The army also said it had recaptured several towns that opposition factions had overrun in recent days.
Residents said one attack hit a crowded residential area in the center of Idlib, the largest city in an opposition enclave near the Turkish border where around four million people live in makeshift tents and dwellings.
At least seven people were killed and dozens injured, according to rescuers at the scene. The Syrian army and its ally Russia say they target the hideouts of insurgent groups and deny attacking civilians.
Ten children were among the dead in the air strikes in and around Idlib and other targets in opposition-held territory near Aleppo on Sunday, according to the White Helmets.
The total death toll from Syrian and Russian strikes since Nov. 27 had climbed to 56, including 20 children, the group added in a statement on X.
The insurgents are a coalition of Türkiye-backed mainstream secular armed groups along with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group that has been designated a terrorist outfit by the US, Russia, Türkiye and other states.
The insurgents seized control of all of Idlib province in recent days, the boldest opposition assault for years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.
Insurgents also swept into the city of Aleppo, east of Idlib, on Friday night, forcing the army to redeploy.
In remarks published on state media, Assad said: "Terrorists only know the language of force and it is the language we will crush them with".
The Syrian army said dozens of its soldiers had been killed in the fighting in Aleppo.
Russian war bloggers reported on Sunday that Moscow had dismissed Sergei Kisel, the general in charge of its forces in Syria, after insurgents swept into Aleppo. Reuters has requested comment from the Russian defense ministry.
In a joint statement, the United States, France, Germany, and Britain urged "de-escalation by all parties and the protection of civilians and infrastructure to prevent further displacement and disruption of humanitarian access".
LEAVING ALEPPO
Inside Aleppo city, streets were mostly empty and many shops were closed on Sunday as scared residents stayed at home. There was still a heavy flow of civilians leaving the city, witnesses and residents said.
Opposition fighters waving the opposition flag drove through the city, Yusuf Khatib, a resident, told Reuters by phone. Some of the opposition took up positions on street intersections, he added.
Ahmad Tutenji, a merchant in the affluent New Aleppo neighborhood, said he was surprised how quickly the army left. "I am shocked at how they fled and abandoned us."
Abdullah al Halabi, a pensioner whose neighborhood was bombed near the central area of Qasr al Baladi, said people were terrified they would see a repeat of the Russian-led bombing that killed thousands of people before driving out the opposition a decade ago.
Syrian troops who had withdrawn from the city were now regrouping and reinforcements were also being sent to help in the counter-attack, army sources said.
Aleppo had been firmly held by the government since a 2016 victory there, one of the war's major turning points, when Russian-backed Syrian forces besieged and laid waste to opposition-held eastern areas of what had been the country's largest city.
The opposition said on Sunday they had pushed further south of Aleppo city and captured the town of Khansir in an attempt to cut the army's main supply route to Aleppo city.
Opposition sources said they had also captured Sheikh Najjar estate, one of the country's major industrial zones.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield accounts.
The war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced many millions, has ground on since 2011 with no formal end. Most heavy fighting halted years ago after Iran-backed militias and Russian air power helped Assad win control of all major cities.
A lack of that manpower contributed to the speedy retreat of Syrian army forces in recent days, according to two army sources.
The opposition gains came after Israel stepped up its strikes on Iranian bases in Syria and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Militias allied to Iran, led by Hezbollah, have had a strong presence in the Aleppo area.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, visiting Damascus on Sunday, said the situation in Syria was "difficult" but the Assad government would prevail.