Lebanon: No End in Sight in Cabinet Formation Impasse

 File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)
File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)
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Lebanon: No End in Sight in Cabinet Formation Impasse

 File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)
File photo. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visits President Michel Aoun (NNA)

No major efforts are being exerted to make a breakthrough in Lebanon's government formation process, despite shy attempts by a number of politicians that have failed to yield tangible results.

In this regard, Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzeddine said Tuesday that his party is holding talks with all sides over the government formation issue to remove obstacles hindering the formation of a new cabinet capable of facing Lebanon’s severe economic, social and financial crises.

Ezzeddine said the new cabinet must address the people’s needs by adopting reforms to fight corruption.

Meanwhile, sources from the Free Patriotic Movement and the Shiite duo said there no new developments regarding the cabinet formation process, affirming that there are no current talks between the political parties.

For their part, FPM sources blamed Hariri for the deadlock, saying there is no hope for talks to take place since Hariri is still traveling.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement supported Speaker Nabih Berri’s initiative.

“It became clear that until today, there is no decision to form a cabinet, particularly from President Aoun and MP Gebran Bassil,” the sources said, adding that the US and Arab countries support Berri’s initiative.

The sources were referring to the separate visits that Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry made to Beirut last week to discuss the political and financial crises.



Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.