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Opposition Calls for Boycotting 'Electronic Consultation' Launched by Tunisian President

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AFP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AFP)
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Opposition Calls for Boycotting 'Electronic Consultation' Launched by Tunisian President

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AFP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AFP)

More and more Tunisian opposition parties have expressed their rejection of the electronic consultation proposed by President Kais Saied to reform the political and social system.

The Ennahda movement joined the parties calling for boycotting the "Your opinion, our decision" consultation, which will be launched through an electronic platform.

Ennahda, headed by parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, announced its support for the Republican Party, the Democratic Bloc for Labor and Freedoms, and the Democratic Current Party, after these parties expressed their strong rejection, warning they were another step aimed at disrupting democracy.

The Executive Office of Ennahda called for a boycott of the consultation, saying it focuses on unilateral rule and contradicts the mechanisms of democratic action.

The movement said the electronic consultation is part of a greater comprehensive project aimed at dismantling Tunisia's state institutions and blocking any opportunity to address the escalating political crisis through dialogue and negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of Communication Technologies, Chaouki Chihi, stated that only 600 persons have participated in the electronic consultation so far.

He said the electronic portal was prepared on schedule, explaining that the operation was "experimental."

Ennahda's Executive Office called on all Tunisian national, political, and social forces to participate in protests scheduled for January 14 to express their rejection of the gross violations of rights and freedoms.

Leaders of the Tunisian General Labor Union announced that the electronic consultation "cannot in any way replace an honest dialogue," saying it does not represent all segments of Tunisian society and its national forces.

Al-Ittihad also criticized the roadmap proposed by the president to resolve the crisis, saying it "is inseparable from exclusivity."

Earlier this month, Tunisia launched a wide-ranging national consultation that will feed into drafting a new constitution, calling on citizens to send in suggestions.

The consultation is initially targeting youth centers through an electronic platform across the country's 24 regions, and the platform will be open to everyone from January 15 until March 20.

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Arab World

Lebanese Health Ministry Says Two People Wounded in Israeli Drone Strike on Nabatieh

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the town of Deir Seryan as seen from the 'pilot zone' village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, Nabatieh Governorate, southern Lebanon, 31 July 2026, following a US-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel. EPA/STRINGER
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the town of Deir Seryan as seen from the 'pilot zone' village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, Nabatieh Governorate, southern Lebanon, 31 July 2026, following a US-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel. EPA/STRINGER
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Lebanese Health Ministry Says Two People Wounded in Israeli Drone Strike on Nabatieh

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the town of Deir Seryan as seen from the 'pilot zone' village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, Nabatieh Governorate, southern Lebanon, 31 July 2026, following a US-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel. EPA/STRINGER
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the town of Deir Seryan as seen from the 'pilot zone' village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, Nabatieh Governorate, southern Lebanon, 31 July 2026, following a US-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel. EPA/STRINGER

Lebanon's health ministry said on Tuesday that an ‌Israeli ‌drone strike ‌in ⁠the city of ⁠Nabatieh wounded two civilians.

The ministry ⁠added ‌that ‌a second strike ‌targeted ‌a rescue team from ‌the Al-Risala Association, damaging ⁠an ⁠ambulance.

Arab World

Former Syrian President Assad Sentenced to Death in Absentia

A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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Former Syrian President Assad Sentenced to Death in Absentia

A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

A Syrian court sentenced in absentia ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad along with his younger brother to death on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead. 

Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib for leading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war. 

Amid tight security, Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform as the judge read the sentence. 

Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after insurgents marched into Damascus in December 2014. 

Najib was later detained and became one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial. 

Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad in 2011. 

Arab World

Lebanon’s Ali al-Taher Back at Center of Escalation

The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Lebanon’s Ali al-Taher Back at Center of Escalation

The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Intensified Israeli operations have thrust the Ali al-Taher Heights back to the forefront of tensions in southern Lebanon, days after the town of Mansouri came under Israeli attack.

Repeated artillery fire and strikes have targeted the heights and surrounding areas amid Israeli claims of underground military facilities in the area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that his army was carrying out a “highly important operation” in Lebanon, specifically citing the targeting of operatives at Ali al-Taher.

Some assessments link the intensity of Israeli operations to the area’s strategic importance and the possibility that Israel may seek to expand its control there. Others view the developments within the broader issue of Hezbollah’s weapons, while the US position remains a key factor in determining the scope and timing of any wider Israeli action.

Heavy shelling

Ali al-Taher came under intense Israeli artillery fire overnight Sunday into Monday, continuing until dawn. Local reports said that more than 70 shells struck the area. The attacks continued Monday morning with drone strikes, while shelling hit the area between Zawtar and Mayfadoun.

Netanyahu adviser Dmitry Gendelman maintained that “Israel would remain in the security zone and act independently to dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.

Gendelman said Ali al-Taher contained a Hezbollah command center, and claimed the destruction of a tunnel complex beneath Beaufort Castle, along with operations targeting the group’s infrastructure, personnel and weapons.

Israeli claims of having seized the hill come amid conflicting accounts over the nature of its presence there and underground facilities in the area. Reports have suggested that operatives remain inside a facility and that efforts are underway to encircle them and cut supply routes.

Missed opportunity

Retired Brig. Gen. Yaarob Sakher said Lebanon missed a “golden opportunity” at Ali al-Taher, arguing that Hezbollah could have handed the area over to the Lebanese Army as an additional pilot zone.

“There was a golden opportunity for Lebanon at Ali al-Taher,” Sakher told Asharq Al-Awsat. “Hezbollah could have handed it over to the Lebanese Army, which would enter and take control, but the party refused.”

In his assessment, the refusal gave Israel an opportunity to harden its position. He added that Hezbollah is unlikely to surrender the area because of its military significance.

“We do not know everything that is there, but Ali al-Taher appears to contain what could be described as a major operations room, alongside an extensive tunnel network believed to connect with other areas,” he explained.

Sakher added that circulating information points to the possible presence of weapons and ammunition depots and senior personnel, noting that Hezbollah’s determination to hold the area suggests it carries considerable importance.

Beyond Ali al-Taher

Retired Brig. Gen. Khaled Hamadeh, by contrast, cautioned against reducing the escalation to the fate of the heights, viewing the intensified bombardment as part of a broader Israeli course of action.

“The issue goes beyond Ali al-Taher, and we are heading toward further escalation,” Hamadeh told Asharq Al-Awsat, linking the developments to Israeli operations in other southern areas, including Mansouri and Zawtar.

In his view, Israel “will not allow any security or military surprise in areas it considers sensitive,” and the operations are intended to send a message beyond any single position on the ground.

“The fundamental issue is not Ali al-Taher or any particular military position, but Hezbollah’s weapons,” he stressed.

Israel is acting on the premise that the framework agreement with Lebanon requires the weapons to be addressed and that the current situation will leave the door open to further strikes, he remarked.

“The main problem lies in the lack of political will to disarm Hezbollah,” he added.