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Lebanon: Disputes Emerge Between FPM, Hezbollah

Supporters carry Hezbollah and Amal Movement flags as they ride in a convoy past a poster depicting Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad, as votes are being counted in Lebanon's parliamentary election, in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah
Supporters carry Hezbollah and Amal Movement flags as they ride in a convoy past a poster depicting Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad, as votes are being counted in Lebanon's parliamentary election, in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah
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Lebanon: Disputes Emerge Between FPM, Hezbollah

Supporters carry Hezbollah and Amal Movement flags as they ride in a convoy past a poster depicting Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad, as votes are being counted in Lebanon's parliamentary election, in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah
Supporters carry Hezbollah and Amal Movement flags as they ride in a convoy past a poster depicting Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad, as votes are being counted in Lebanon's parliamentary election, in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah

For the first time since the signing of the Mar Mkhayel Agreement in 2006, a dispute emerged between former President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Hezbollah.

The conflict between the two sides was publicly announced in the media on Monday, following the participation of Hezbollah’s ministers in a cabinet meeting called for by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to make some “emergency” decisions.

The FPM, which had announced its boycott of the session, strongly criticized the party, saying that its participation in the ministerial meeting has “shaken” the Mar Mkhayel agreement.

In a press conference, the head of the FPM, MP Gebran Bassil, said: “Our problem is with the truthful ones who reneged on the agreement, the promise and the guarantee,” hinting at Hezbollah.

The party responded, in a statement on Thursday, saying that the FPM’s behavior as “unwise and inappropriate.”

“We don’t want to engage into a debate with any of our friends, although much of what was mentioned in Minister Bassil’s words needs discussion. We find ourselves concerned with clarifying two issues for the public opinion. The first is that Hezbollah did not make a promise to anyone that the caretaker government would not meet until all its components agreed to meet, so that Minister Bassil would consider that the government meeting that took place is a breach of the promise,” the statement read.

It added: “The language of treachery… especially among friends, is unwise and inappropriate behavior. Our concern for friendship… remains the basis of our dealings with any reaction, especially since Lebanon today is in dire need of communication, dialogue and internal discussion… to overcome difficult crises…”

On Thursday, the two parties tried to mitigate the impact of the crisis, when Hezbollah’s MP, Ali Fayyad, said: “We are not engaging into a discussion about the future of the relationship with the FPM.”

Other signs pointed to an attempt to mend the relations, including a meeting between Hezbollah MPs Ali Ammar and Hassan Fadlallah, with FPM MPs Bassil and Ghassan Atallah.

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Arab World

Italy arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italy arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian police said Saturday that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for Palestinian group Hamas.

Police also issued international arrests for two others outside the country, said AFP.

Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, said a police statement.

The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to "associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas."

While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations "for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people," more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing of Hamas" or entities affiliated with the movement, according to police.

Some of the money went to "family members implicated in terrorist attacks," the statement said.

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi posted on X that the operation "lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations."

Arab World

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.

Arab World

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
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Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.