Saudi Ambassador Calls for Electing President Who Returns Lebanon to Arab Fold

A Saudi flag flutters atop Saudi Arabia's embassy in Beirut, Lebanon May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A Saudi flag flutters atop Saudi Arabia's embassy in Beirut, Lebanon May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Saudi Ambassador Calls for Electing President Who Returns Lebanon to Arab Fold

A Saudi flag flutters atop Saudi Arabia's embassy in Beirut, Lebanon May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A Saudi flag flutters atop Saudi Arabia's embassy in Beirut, Lebanon May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari visited several Christian figures on Friday and will meet several others on Saturday to extend congratulations on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year.

Bukhari met on Friday Ignatius Joseph III Yonan, the Syriac Catholic Patriarch, at the patriarchal headquarters in Beirut.

They discussed the Lebanese developments, namely the election of a new president.

They highlighted the need for Lebanese parties to agree on the election of a new head of state who returns Lebanon to the Arab fold, unites the Lebanese people together, and helps the recovery of the crisis-hit nation.

The two officials also discussed issues of mutual interest.



At Least 18 Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Central Gaza Mosque

FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo
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At Least 18 Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Central Gaza Mosque

FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo

At least 18 people were killed and dozens of others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza mosque early on Sunday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The strike was carried out on the mosque near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said the number of casualties could rise as the mosque was being used to house displaced people.

The Israeli military said in a statement it "conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded in a structure that previously served as the 'Shuhada al-Aqsa' Mosque in the area of Deir al Balah."

Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. It has also displaced nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.