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Lebanon's Geagea Vows to Prevent Election of Pro-Hezbollah President

Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
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Lebanon's Geagea Vows to Prevent Election of Pro-Hezbollah President

Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)

The head of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, has rejected the election of a president from the so-called pro-Hezbollah March 8 Alliance, saying that his bloc might boycott the sessions to name a president to prevent the nomination of a candidate from the “Axis of Resistance.”

Geagea said that he is a "candidate for the presidency" but that his bid would only be valid if opposition MPs agreed to run a single candidate of their own.

Speaking at a press conference at his residence in Maarab on the presidential elections scheduled for next September, within the constitutional 60-day period to elect the head of state before President Michel Aoun's term expires, Geagea said: "we must elect a president capable of addressing the crisis and not avoiding it."

He added that Hezbollah is the leading actor behind the crisis in Lebanon, which confiscated the state’s strategic decision-making.

"The main factors that have brought upon us the current crisis are the confiscation of the state's strategic decisions, mismanagement, and corruption. It is also directly responsible for mismanagement through smuggling, for example, and through its alliance with the corrupt (individuals) in the country to cover its actions."

Geagea indicated that the presidential election should be the first step on the path to salvation, otherwise, the country will face the worst.

According to Geagea, the presidential elections include four possibilities: an opposition candidate or a candidate backed by the Axis of Resistance gets elected, warning that Lebanon will be isolated and lose all investments and international and Arab support.

He added that the third possibility is "a consensual President" who would "extend the hell we are living into six more years.”

The fourth option, asserted Geagea, is having a reformist president, stressing that "the opposition groups are the only ones capable of bringing such president” to power.

Geagea addressed the opposition and the independents, saying: "the ball is in our court [..] and we must form a coordination committee that will discuss the president who has the requirements."

He addressed the 67 opposition lawmakers, urging them to discuss the coordination committee required to agree on a single name for the presidency.

Geagea said Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun refuses to discuss the presidency.

Geagea has long criticized the March 8 team's disruption of the presidential election sessions in 2016, which led to naming President Michel Aoun.

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Arab World

Lebanon Urges US to Put Pressure on Israel to Stop Attacks and Demolitions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike on a southern Lebanon village as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike on a southern Lebanon village as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)
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Lebanon Urges US to Put Pressure on Israel to Stop Attacks and Demolitions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike on a southern Lebanon village as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike on a southern Lebanon village as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon's president has urged the United States to put pressure on Israel to cease fire and stop home demolitions in south Lebanon, the presidency said on Monday, as the death toll from Israeli attacks rose.

Lebanon's health ministry said 74 people had been killed by Israeli strikes in the last three days despite a truce announced last month in fighting between Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Israeli military, a spokesperson said.

Tehran said it had demanded security for Lebanon as part of a proposal for ending the wider war with the US and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran's proposal.

The Hezbollah-Israel conflict reignited on ‌March 2 when ‌the group opened fire at Israel in support of Tehran.

Hostilities ‌have ⁠continued since Trump ⁠declared a ceasefire on April 16, mostly in south Lebanon, where Israel is occupying a self-declared security zone, saying it aims to guard against Hezbollah attacks.

The Lebanese health ministry spokesperson said the victims since Saturday had been killed in various Israeli strikes, including one that killed at least seven people in the southern town of Saksakiyeh.

It said 2,869 people had been killed since March 2, including 584 medics, women and minors. Its toll does not say how many combatants are among ⁠the dead.

WASHINGTON TO HOST THIRD ROUND OF TALKS

Lebanese President Joseph ‌Aoun, in a meeting with US Ambassador to Lebanon ‌Michel Issa, "stressed ... the necessity of pressure on Israel to halt fire and military operations and the destruction ‌and bulldozing of homes", the presidency said.

Israel has been demolishing villages in the ‌south, saying it is acting against Hezbollah fighters embedded in civilian areas.

Aoun and Issa also reviewed "developments related" to a third round of talks due in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli government representatives, the presidency said.

Washington last month hosted two rounds of talks between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington, the highest-level ‌contacts between Israel and Lebanon in decades. The US will facilitate the third round on May 14 and 15, the State Department ⁠said.

Lebanon's delegation will ⁠be headed by former ambassador to Washington Simon Karam. Aoun, who nominated Karam for the role, gave him his directives during a meeting on Saturday, the presidency said.

Beirut's decision to hold face-to-face contacts with Israel reflects a deep divide in Lebanon over Hezbollah's arsenal and the group's decision to attack Israel.

Critics accuse the group of unilaterally dragging Lebanon into war. Hezbollah has demanded the government cancel the talks.

Israel last week carried out its first strike on Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs since the ceasefire was declared. Israel says the strike killed the commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan force. Hezbollah has not confirmed his death.

Israel says Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel since March 2. Some 1.2 million people have been driven from their homes in Lebanon, many of them fleeing from the south.

Israel says 17 of its soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon, along with two civilians in northern Israel.

Arab World

Israel Sentences 2 Soldiers to Military Prison for Desecration of Christian Statue in Lebanon

Israeli troops maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)
Israeli troops maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)
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Israel Sentences 2 Soldiers to Military Prison for Desecration of Christian Statue in Lebanon

Israeli troops maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)
Israeli troops maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 11 May 2026. (EPA)

Israel’s military said Monday that two soldiers will spend weeks in military prison for the desecration of a Christian statue in southern Lebanon.

One soldier, who stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary, was sentenced to 21 days and a soldier who filmed the incident was sentenced to 14 days, a military spokesperson said.

“The army views the incident with great severity and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” Lt. Col. Ariella Mazor wrote on X.

The incident came days after images of an Israeli soldier wielding an ax against a fallen statue of Jesus on the cross in the southern village of Debel sparked widespread condemnation. Soldiers who participated in hacking down the crucifix also received time in military prison.

Israeli forces occupied the area during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, which began on March 2 when the Iran-backed Lebanese group fired missiles over the border two days after the US and Israel launched their war with Iran. Israel then launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and its forces have remained despite a weekslong truce.

Israel's military says it only targets buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed group.

The scale of destruction has Lebanese officials and residents worried that large numbers of people displaced by the latest war will have nowhere to return if the fragile truce holds.

Arab World

Syria Says Two Soldiers Killed in Attack in Northeast

A member of Syria's security forces stands under a sign in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
A member of Syria's security forces stands under a sign in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Syria Says Two Soldiers Killed in Attack in Northeast

A member of Syria's security forces stands under a sign in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
A member of Syria's security forces stands under a sign in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025. (AFP)

Syria said two soldiers were killed in an attack by unidentified assailants in the country's northeast on Monday, while a military source told AFP investigations were underway to identify the perpetrators.

In recent months, Syria's new government has expanded its control to parts of the country's north and northeast that were previously held by Kurdish-led forces, including areas near the site of Monday's attack.

The government has also formally joined the international coalition against the ISIS group, which has long launched attacks in those areas.

The two soldiers were killed "and others wounded in a treacherous attack by unknown assailants" on a bus in Hasakeh province, state news agency SANA quoted the defense ministry as saying.

A military source told AFP on condition of anonymity that a military bus "came under gunfire" along the highway between Ras al-Ain in Hasakeh province and Ain Issa in Raqqa province, adding that two soldiers were killed and two others wounded.

Investigations were underway to determine who was behind the attack, the source added.

Once in control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq, ISIS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 in a battle spearheaded by Kurdish-led forces with support from a US-led international coalition.

The extremists however maintain a presence in Syria, mainly in the country's vast desert, and repeatedly attacked Kurdish-led forces while they controlled swathes of the northeast.

In February, after government forces seized control of many of those areas, ISIS urged its members to fight Syria's new authorities.

Days later, state media said four Syrian security personnel were killed in an ISIS attack in the northern city of Raqqa, which had been recently taken by Damascus's forces.