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Lebanon’s FPM Says Won't Back Hariri for Premiership

FILE PHOTO: Saad Hariri is seen during the meeting to discuss a draft policy statement at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Saad Hariri is seen during the meeting to discuss a draft policy statement at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
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Lebanon’s FPM Says Won't Back Hariri for Premiership

FILE PHOTO: Saad Hariri is seen during the meeting to discuss a draft policy statement at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Saad Hariri is seen during the meeting to discuss a draft policy statement at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo

The Free Patriotic Movement said on Saturday it would not back the nomination of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to lead a government to tackle Lebanon's crises, further complicating efforts to agree on a new premier.

Hariri, who quit as prime minister last October in the face of nationwide protests, has said he is ready to lead a government of experts to implement reforms proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron as a way to unlock badly needed international aid.

But Hariri has failed to win backing from the two main Christian parties - the FPM and the Lebanese Forces.

Parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister were due to be held last Thursday, but President Michel Aoun postponed the discussions after receiving requests for a delay from some blocs.

The FPM, which is led by Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil, said Saturday it could not back a political figure such as Hariri because Macron's proposal had called for a reformist government made up of and led by "specialists.”

As a result, the party's political council "decided unanimously not to nominate Hariri", a statement said, adding that Aoun's week-long postponement would not lead the party to reconsider its position.

Hariri could still secure a parliamentary majority if Hezbollah and its ally Amal movement led by Speaker Nabih Berri endorse him for the premiership. But the absence of support from either of the main Christian blocs would hand him at best a fragile mandate to tackle Lebanon's crises.

The country has plunged into financial turmoil and the value of the Lebanese pound has collapsed. The coronavirus pandemic and a huge explosion at Beirut's port on Aug. 4 have compounded the crises and increased unemployment and poverty.

Hariri, who has served twice as prime minister, resigned two weeks after huge protests erupted against the ruling elite exactly a year ago.

Early this year, PM Hassan Diab formed a government that collapsed after the devastating Aug. 4 blast. Mustafa Adib, Lebanon's ambassador to Germany, was tasked last month with forming a cabinet of experts in line with Macron's plan, but he gave up the mission after Hezbollah and Amal insisted on naming the Shiite ministers and wanting to keep the finance portfolio with the Shiite sect.

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Arab World

PM Says Lebanon Facing Dangerous Israeli Escalation

Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)
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PM Says Lebanon Facing Dangerous Israeli Escalation

Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced on Saturday what he called a dangerous Israeli escalation in the south, urging an immediate ceasefire and insisting that a "scorched-earth policy" would not ensure Israel's security.

In a televised address, Salam also defended his government's direct negotiations with Israel -- which Iran-backed Hezbollah opposes -- saying that the talks were the "least costly path" for Lebanon.

"In light of the dangerous and unprecedented Israeli escalation over the past few days, it is necessary to step up political and diplomatic efforts to achieve a swift and real ceasefire," Salam said.

He accused Israel of "pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment" by "destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile".

This will bring "neither security nor stability" to Israel, he said.

Salam's broadcast came after Israel's military issued new evacuation warnings for residents of more south Lebanon villages, and a day after military delegations from both countries held landmark security talks in Washington.

Those talks took place ahead of US-brokered negotiations early next week -- the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted in March.

Salam said the outcome of the direct negotiations with Israel was "not guaranteed", but that they "are the least costly path for our country and our people".

A US statement after Friday's talks made no mention of a ceasefire, and Israel has recently intensified its air and ground operations against Hezbollah.

A truce to halt the fighting officially took effect on April 17, but has never been observed.

Arab World

Kataib Hezbollah Vows to Keep Arms as Iraq Faces US Pressure to Disarm Groups

Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
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Kataib Hezbollah Vows to Keep Arms as Iraq Faces US Pressure to Disarm Groups

Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
Fighters carry flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)

The influential Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah pledged on Saturday to keep up its "action", as Baghdad faces mounting US pressure to disarm factions backed by Iran.

Following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran at the end of February, groups operating under the banner of the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" carried out repeated drone and rocket attacks on US interests in the country.

Washington, in turn, bombed facilities and bases belonging to the groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, killing dozens of their members.

Since taking office in mid-May, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has pledged to restrict weapons to the hands of the state.

But in a statement on Saturday, Kataib Hezbollah security chief Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said "action is today a collective duty, and we will carry it out on behalf of the brothers who have decided to abandon it".

While some factions have shown willingness to operate under state institutions, others, like Kataib Hezbollah, refuse to discuss disarmament under US pressure.

Assaf suggested that Kataib Hezbollah was willing to work with those other groups, and was "also prepared to pay for" weapons they no longer needed.

He said his group was ready "to cooperate and play a constructive role" by supervising the transfer and storage of weapons, and receiving specialized weapons such as cruise missiles, for which "there are no experts within state agencies".

Kataib Hezbollah insists it will not discuss its weapons so long as foreign forces remain deployed in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region as part of a US-led international coalition formed in 2014 to fight the extremist ISIS group.

The coalition is scheduled to end its mission in the Kurdistan region by September.

Earlier this month, a senior US State Department official had demanded Iraq take "concrete actions" on pro-Iran armed groups, preconditioning renewed support on "expelling terrorist militias from any state institution" and cutting off payments to them.

Arab World

Israeli Strike Kills Nurse in Gaza

Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)
Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)
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Israeli Strike Kills Nurse in Gaza

Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)
Mourners take the last look at the body of Jamal Abu Aoun, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday May 30, 2026. (AP)

A Palestinian nurse was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza Saturday, hospital authorities said, the latest death by Israeli fire since a shaky ceasefire halted major fighting in the enclave last year.

The strike late Saturday morning hit a Hamas-manned police point in the central city of Deir al-Balah. At least three other people were wounded, according to the city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, which received the casualties.

The Israeli military didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The dead nurse was identified as Jamal Abu Aoun, who worked at Yafa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. His funeral was held at noon in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital’s courtyard.

He was the latest fatality among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since a fragile October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the shaky ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing at least 929 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Fighters have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.