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Paris to Host Int’l Meeting Monday to Address Lebanon’s Presidential Crisis

The seat of the Lebanese presidency that became vacant in November after parties failed to agree on a successor to Michel Aoun. (EPA)
The seat of the Lebanese presidency that became vacant in November after parties failed to agree on a successor to Michel Aoun. (EPA)
    Washington, Beirut – Elie Youssef and Asharq Al-Awsat
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Paris to Host Int’l Meeting Monday to Address Lebanon’s Presidential Crisis

The seat of the Lebanese presidency that became vacant in November after parties failed to agree on a successor to Michel Aoun. (EPA)
The seat of the Lebanese presidency that became vacant in November after parties failed to agree on a successor to Michel Aoun. (EPA)

Paris will host on Monday an international meeting aimed at tackling the Lebanese presidential crisis. Representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United States, France, Egypt and Qatar will attend.

Lebanese officials are skeptical that the Paris meeting will yield a breakthrough in the impasse. Rather, they believe it will discuss the general characteristics of what the next president should enjoy.

Lebanon has been without a president since November when Michel Aoun’s term ended.

Several elections sessions have been held at parliament, but no single candidate has won enough votes to be named president.

The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), headed by former MP Walid Jumblatt, had recently declared that army commander Joseph Aoun is at the top of the list of potential candidates.

Influential parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has been holding intensive meetings with various officials to help end the impasse, but little progress has been achieved.

Meanwhile, a Lebanese parliamentary delegation left Washington on Saturday after a nearly week-long visit to attend the annual National Prayer Breakfast at the White House.

The delegation included “Change” MPs, several journalists and obscure political figures, who had made the trip at their own personal expense.

Sources from the delegation said each member had their own agenda during the trip that they discussed with various American officials, including US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf.

Leaf advised the Lebanese to take the initiative themselves and resolve the presidential deadlock, form a new government that can take on the responsibility of rebuilding state institutions and achieve political and economic reforms.

Independent MP Yassine Yassine told Asharq Al-Awsat that Leaf was clear in ruling out the possibility of Lebanon relying on American “intervention” to end the crisis.

Moreover, after meeting with various Congress officials, he concluded that the Lebanese crisis is not a priority in Washington and it will not intervene to back any candidate.

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Israeli Military Says Commandos Raided Missile Plant in Syria in September

People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Says Commandos Raided Missile Plant in Syria in September

People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel's military said on Thursday its special forces had raided an underground missile production site in Syria in September that it said was primed to produce hundreds of precision missiles for use against Israel by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The complex near Masyaf, close to the Mediterranean coast, was "the flagship of Iranian manufacturing efforts in our region", Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told a briefing with reporters.

"This facility was designed to manufacture hundreds of strategic missiles per year from start to finish, for Hezbollah to use in their aerial attacks on Israel."

He said the plant, dug into a mountainside, had been under observation by Israel since construction began in 2017 and was on the point of being able to manufacture precision-guided missiles, some with a range of up to 300 km (190 miles).

"This ability was becoming active, so we're talking about an immediate threat," he said.

Details of the Sept. 8 raid have been reported in Israeli media but Shoshani said this was the first confirmation by the military, which rarely comments on special forces operations.

At the time, Syrian state media said at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the west of the country.

Shoshani said the nighttime raid was "one of the more complex operations the IDF has done in recent years". Accompanied by airstrikes, it involved dozens of aircraft and around 100 helicopter-borne troops, he said.

"At the end of the raid, the troops dismantled the facility, including the machines and the manufacturing equipment, themselves," he said.

The military released footage showing Israeli troops boarding and dismounting from helicopters and moving through what appears to be a concrete-lined tunnel and industrial site, where they examine documents.

Other footage showed senior commanders at a control center, apparently as the operation proceeds.

Israeli officials have accused the former Syrian government of president Bahar al-Assad of helping the Lebanese-based Hezbollah movement receive arms from Iran and say they are determined to stop the flow of weapons into Lebanon.

As Assad's government crumbled towards the end of last year, Israel launched a series of strikes against Syrian military infrastructure and weapons manufacturing sites to prevent them falling into the hands of enemies.