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Arab League Not Asked to Mediate Between Lebanon, Libya

In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 photo, Lebanese security officers check a hall where an Arab economic development summit will be held, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 photo, Lebanese security officers check a hall where an Arab economic development summit will be held, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Arab League Not Asked to Mediate Between Lebanon, Libya

In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 photo, Lebanese security officers check a hall where an Arab economic development summit will be held, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 photo, Lebanese security officers check a hall where an Arab economic development summit will be held, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The Arab League confirmed Tuesday that it has not been asked to mediate between Beirut and Tripoli, in the wake of Libya’s boycott of the Arab Economic Summit to be held in Beirut this week.

"Libya has officially announced its boycott of the summit in the wake of the burning of its country's flag by the Amal movement in Beirut,” the official spokesman of the Secretary General of the Arab League, Mahmoud Afifi, said.

Libya announced its boycott of the summit after Amal supporters took down a Libyan flag erected on the road leading up to the Biel center in downtown Beirut, where the summit will be held, replacing it with their own.

Afifi deemed the flag tearing incident as "regrettable,” adding, “We will see to where things will be heading.”

The two-day Arab Economic Summit will convene in Beirut on Friday.

Asked about the level of representation, Afifi said: “We look forward to the highest representation from attending countries, however, the hosting state sends invitations and is better informed about the level of representation.”

Reports in Beirut said Monday that the summit would witness a poor attendance at the presidential level given that the event comes shortly before the Arab-European summit, scheduled to be held in February in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh resort.

The summit takes place despite an internal dispute caused by Speaker Nabih Berri, who has expressed his objection to Libya’s invitation after calling for the event’s postponement over the failure to invite Syria.

Berri’s Amal movement objects that Lebanon builds ties with Libya due to the 1978 disappearance of the movement’s founder, Imam Musa Sadr, and two of his companions during an official visit to the country.

Afifi said the summit would tackle several issues, including Arab food safety and challenges faced by UNRWA in the region, particularly in the Occupied Territories.

The summit’s agenda includes two proposals from Jordan concerning economic and social challenges faced by countries hosting Syrian refugees.

Afifi said a high-ranking delegation from the Arab League Secretariat would arrive in Beirut Wednesday to take part in preparatory meetings for the summit.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.