Lebanon Calls for Clarifications on Suspension of Voting Rights at UN

Abdallah Bou Habib. (National News Agency)  
Abdallah Bou Habib. (National News Agency)  
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Lebanon Calls for Clarifications on Suspension of Voting Rights at UN

Abdallah Bou Habib. (National News Agency)  
Abdallah Bou Habib. (National News Agency)  

Lebanese caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Abdallah Bou Habib has asked for clarifications from the United Nations on the suspension of Lebanon’s rights to vote before the expiry of the extended deadline to pay its contribution to the UN.

Bou Habib met on Monday with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, and her deputy Imran Riza, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon.

They followed up on the issue of Lebanon paying its dues to the operating budget of the international organization.

Bou Habib said that "the Lebanese mission in New York had previously been informed by the Contributions Office to the United Nations of extending the payment deadline, in which Lebanon would maintain its voting rights until the end of January 2023."

He called for "clarifications on the reason for the change that occurred and the suspension of voting rights before the expiry of the period referred to above."

Bou Habib added that Lebanon is bearing the burden of the Syrian refugees on behalf of the international community and expects a different attitude from those who praise it for hosting the displaced.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.