Lebanon: LF Leader Says Open to All Solutions to Avoid Disrupting Presidential Elections

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
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Lebanon: LF Leader Says Open to All Solutions to Avoid Disrupting Presidential Elections

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea affirmed his openness to all solutions to avoid disrupting the presidential elections, including negotiating with the deputies who did not name anyone in the last session if they had a serious proposal.

He criticized the lawmakers who did not vote for any candidate, accusing them of wasting their votes and helping those who sought to disrupt the elections.

Member of Parliament Michel Moawad received 42 votes in the last parliamentary session to elect a president, including the votes of LF lawmakers and its allies. At the same time, the session saw 55 blank notes and 17 ballots for a "new Lebanon," which were nullified.

Geagea said on Friday during a meeting with students in NDU that if Michel Moawad had obtained 66 votes in the last presidential election session, “then reality would have imposed itself."

He noted that the other party would have no longer been able to disrupt the quorum because it would eventually have to head to elections, given that there is a candidate who received the majority.

Geagea said, during his meeting with the LF students at NDU University after they won student elections, that the 22 MPs can save the country from the vacuum in the next session if they don't waste their votes.

He indicated that there is plenty of time for talks to reach a solution, adding that the party is open to all resolutions and ready to negotiate with a representative if they have a serious proposal.

The 22 MPs can make this vote succeed, and we are waiting for their proposals," Geagea insisted.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah is also pushing for consensus on a presidential candidate.

The member of Hezbollah’s Shura Council, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek, said that the parliament sessions are still taking place without electing a president, asserting that no bloc or party will be able to impose a president, regardless of the foreign support it receives.

Yazbek said the lawmakers must negotiate and agree on a candidate representing the Lebanese and not a president for a particular group.

He asserted that all members of the parliament must agree on a solid figure representing Lebanon, its people, army, and resistance, stating that there is no turning back and the theory of “Lebanon’s strength in its weakness” has ended.



UNRWA: West Bank Witnessing Alarming Spillover of Gaza War

26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
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UNRWA: West Bank Witnessing Alarming Spillover of Gaza War

26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said on Wednesday that West Bank is undergoing an alarming spillover of the Gaza war.

“More than 50 people, including children, have been reported killed since the Israeli forces’ operation started five weeks ago,” he said.

In a statement posted on his X account, Lazzarini said that destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing roads and access restrictions are commonplace.

People’s lives have been turned upside down, bringing back traumas and loss, he said, adding that around 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes especially in refugee camps in the north.

“Fear, uncertainty, and grief once again prevail. Affected camps lie in ruins,” he wrote.

The UN official showed that more than 5,000 children who normally go to UNRWA schools have been deprived of education, some for over 10 weeks now.

Also, patients cannot access healthcare, families are cut off from water, electricity and other basic services, he said.

“More and more people are relying on humanitarian aid at a time when aid agencies are overstretched and severely under-resourced,” Lazzarini noted.

“Our UNRWA teams are tracking displaced people and continue to provide them with much needed food, health care, and basics to keep them warm,” he added.

“This must end,” the UN official concluded.

Meanwhile, the recently-appointed Palestinian governor of Tulkarem, Abdallah Kmeil, said on Wednesday that the Israeli forces had notified residents of their intention to demolish 11 homes in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank, where more than 5,000 people live.

“The Israeli occupation notice to demolish 11 homes under the pretext of constructing a road stretching from the camp square towards the Al-Manshiya neighborhood, is considered a new massacre against this camp through systematic destruction and sabotage,” he said.

Kmeil added that Israel’s unprecedented attack on Tulkarem and its camp will not break the resolve of its people.