Aboul Gheit from Beirut: Arab League Summit Will Be Held in May

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Aboul Gheit from Beirut: Arab League Summit Will Be Held in May

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)

The next Arab League summit will be held in Saudi Arabia in May, announced Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit from Beirut on Tuesday.

He said the summit is likely to focus on economic issues and how to help the neediest Arab regions.

Aboul Gheit met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for talks on the general situation in Lebanon and the region and the latest political developments.

Speaking during his meeting with Mikati, Aboul Gheit described last week’s summit between Saudi Arabia, Iran and China in Beijing as “very positive”, adding that it will lead to “some form of political and security stability between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”

He added, however, that the regional implications of the Saudi-Iranian agreement were “not yet clear.”

Riyadh and Tehran agreed last week to restore relations under an agreement that was sponsored by China.

For his part, Mikati stressed the importance of the Arab League summit in adopting economic initiatives that would help achieve development goals of Arab countries, praising the role played by Aboul Gheit and the organizations general secretariat.

Mikati and Aboul Gheit also discussed the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development, which is organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in cooperation with the Arab League and UN agencies operating in the Arab region.



Israeli Strike in Syria Kills 5 Soldiers

People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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Israeli Strike in Syria Kills 5 Soldiers

People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

An overnight Israeli airstrike on a military site in the area of Kfar Yabous in Syria near the border with Lebanon killed five Syrian army soldiers and injured another, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Friday, citing an unnamed military official.

Israel's military did not immediately acknowledge the strike. Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria and facilities linked to Iran and the Lebanon’s Hezbollah but rarely acknowledges them.

Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese and Syrians have fled across the border from Lebanon into Syria since the beginning of the week amid intense Israeli bombardment that Israel says is targeting Hezbollah fighters and weapons. The strikes have killed an estimated 700 people to date, including at least 150 women and children.