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The Truth between Two Wars: July 2006 and October 2023

Lebanese former Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. (Getty Images)
Lebanese former Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. (Getty Images)
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The Truth between Two Wars: July 2006 and October 2023

Lebanese former Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. (Getty Images)
Lebanese former Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. (Getty Images)

The dangerous plight Lebanon endured in 2006 and currently enduring since October 8, 2023, share several similarities and vast differences.

The moment the Israeli enemy carried out its aggression against Lebanon in July 2006 – under the pretext of retaliating to a Hezbollah military operation and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers – I called cabinet to meet to discuss the danger of the assault and its consequences. We discussed measures that should be taken to protect national security and civilians in areas that were being targeted to prevent the South from being emptied of its people.

I clearly stated that the government was taken by surprise by Hezbollah’s operation. We were unaware of it and did not adopt it. We condemned the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, its sovereignty and people, and urged the need to file an urgent complaint at the United Nations Security Council and demand a ceasefire.

- Distance between the state and party -

The government effectively established a clear distance between the Lebanese state and Hezbollah, allowing it to address the Arab and international communities to help Lebanon and strengthen its perseverance. This also enabled and allowed it to assume its role as the victim – a role Israel had tried to play since that morning of July 12, 2023.

I made sure that the Lebanese state, with all of its elements and means, would be responsible for everything: tackling the outcomes of what happened and what would happen, that it would assume its responsibilities in taking all measures and decisions to protect Lebanon and its people, and that it would provide all the means for their perseverance and protect the displaced Lebanese.

Since that day, the government Serial turned into a tireless national workshop, while members of government formed a united team to defend Lebanon and ensure the functioning of state institutions to allow daily life to continue. Civil society was also entrusted with playing its role in defending Lebanon.

On the external front, and with the cooperation of Lebanon’s foreign minister, daily contacts were intensified with senior world officials, such as the UN secretary-general, heads of fraternal Arab states and friendly influential countries that could impact world decisions. A ceasefire was our primary demand at the Security Council.

At the time, the Israeli enemy continued its war on Lebanon. It targeted vital facilities, destroyed bridges, roads, schools and infrastructure in villages and towns. The government, meanwhile, worked tirelessly in bringing together the world and international organizations to condemn the assault against Lebanon.

- Seven-point plan -

Along with the cabinet and effective role of the president, I presented to world leaders and the Security Council solutions to end the war against Lebanon. The government adopted a seven-point plan that I proposed at the Rome conference. The plan was adopted by the Security Council as part of its international resolution for a ceasefire.

The Security Council issued resolution 1701 and the war ended. The displaced returned to their homes and villages starting August 14, 2006. The reconstruction plan of infrastructure and destroyed and damaged buildings was carried out with the highest level of competence, credibility, efficiency and speed in due to the generous aid offered by Arab states, especially the Gulf, and friendly countries. Lebanon could rely on these countries after the trust that the government consolidated and built with all brothers and friends.

And so, Lebanon rose again and prospered. It went on to resume its natural Arab and international role. From 2007 and 2010, Lebanon achieved the highest growth rate in its history and over a four-year period. It achieved a major surplus in its balance of payments and a very positive surplus in its foreign currency reserves in the Central Bank. It also achieved a major relative drop in its public debt.

- Unity of arenas without foundation -

In contrast, what happened on October 8, 2023, was a result of Hezbollah’s vision of the “unity of arenas”. It took its actions alone and at its own responsibility without informing or the knowledge of the legitimate authorities in Lebanon. It opened the southern Lebanese front with occupied Palestine without also taking into consideration the very dire circumstances that Lebanon has been and still continues to endure.

The very next day I issued a statement stressing that Lebanon will not and cannot be dragged into such a military battle. I listed five fundamental reasons: the national and political crisis caused by the vacuum in the presidency, failure to form a responsible government, the stifling economic crisis, the Syrian refugee crisis and Lebanon’s loss of close ties with its Arab fold and loss of the Arab and international safety net that protected it in 2006. Added to that is the majority of the Lebanese people’s lack of sympathy or support of Hezbollah’s military operation.

Now, resolution 1701 has not been implemented as it should, and the UN and Security Council have not played their role in ensuring the implementation of all international resolutions related to Lebanon and the Palestinian cause. Israel has proven that it does not want just and lasting peace in the region. It does not recognize international law, international legitimacy or human rights. It has been running rampant in genocide, killing, and destruction in Gaza and the West Bank. Now, it has its sights on Lebanon where it is killing civilians and displacing the people, destroying homes and infrastructure and abusing modern technology.

- Nation searches for heroes -

Now, we are where we are, facing obstacles to outlets that can help Lebanon out of this Israeli aggression. I believe that certain officials in Lebanon can play a major national role in the absence of a president. I believe these figures are Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, and Najib Mikati, the caretaker prime minister. They must intensify their efforts and earn this heroic role. All dutiful officials must save Lebanon and take the initiative to help it through adopting the following six points:

First, national duty demands that all Lebanese people come together and act according to a unified basis and national fraternity. The entire Lebanese population condemns this barbaric Israeli aggression that is targeting the whole of Lebanon and its structure, which cannot tolerate the idea of no victor and no vanquished.

Second, solutions in Lebanon can only be reached through unifying national proposals that are based on the full implementation of the Taif Accord and Lebanese constitution. They should adhere to the state and its authority. The state is independent and it alone is responsible for protecting the nation and its sovereignty and its people and their security and stability.

Third, the Israeli aggression is targeting the whole of Lebanon and all the Lebanese people. No one wants this attack and sees in it an opportunity to back their political position. So, efforts should be focused on supporting the state and allowing it to take control and assume responsibility, bringing together the people so that their sole concern would be saving Lebanon and helping it out of this dangerous crisis that is threatening their nation, their unity and their fate.

Fourth, the Security Council must issue a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. It must assume its responsibilities in preserving international peace and security through obligating all parties to fully and immediately implement resolution 1701 and respect all relevant resolutions.

Fifth, Speaker Berri must call parliament to convene to discuss the dangers that are looming around the Lebanese state and people. The parliament must ensure the preservation of the Lebanese entity, respect the constitution, and preserve Lebanon’s unity and territorial integrity. Berri must call for the election of a new president without delay.

The president must be able to unite all the people and form a responsible government that would assume the responsibility in implementing resolution 1701 in full. It must work on reviving the state and restoring its sovereignty. It must bolster the role of the Lebanese state in maintaining the country’s independence and freedom.

Sixth, efforts must be exerted with all Arab brothers and the Arab League, as well as all friendly countries and institutions, to offer the necessary and immediate aid to the displaced. The safe return of the displaced must be ensured and the necessary funds for reconstruction must be secured.

This new plight has demonstrated that Lebanon has not learned from the lessons of 2006. It has become exposed in every aspect before the Israeli enemy, which has taken advantage of its superior firepower, air force, technology, intelligence and unlimited support from the international community to kill and destroy. The enemy is still hoping to sow division and strife between the Lebanese people. God willing, this will not happen. The enemy has not shied away from committing massacres and assassinations, the last of which was the killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

Today, the whole of Lebanon is facing a test. Will the UN and Security Council champion what is right? Will the Lebanese people rally together to defend Lebanon and their right for a dignified and safe life, and teach Israel a lesson in rights, humanity and respect for human rights?

*Fuad Siniora is a Lebanese former prime minister.

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Features

Rebuilding the Army: One of the Syrian Govt’s Greatest Challenges

Soldiers and police officers from the former Syrian regime handing in weapons last year to new security forces in Latakia, Syria. (Ivor Prickett for The New York Times)
Soldiers and police officers from the former Syrian regime handing in weapons last year to new security forces in Latakia, Syria. (Ivor Prickett for The New York Times)
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Rebuilding the Army: One of the Syrian Govt’s Greatest Challenges

Soldiers and police officers from the former Syrian regime handing in weapons last year to new security forces in Latakia, Syria. (Ivor Prickett for The New York Times)
Soldiers and police officers from the former Syrian regime handing in weapons last year to new security forces in Latakia, Syria. (Ivor Prickett for The New York Times)

When opposition factions in Syria came to power a year ago, one of their first acts was to dismiss all of the country’s military forces, which had been used as tools of repression and brutality for five decades under the rule of Bashar al-Assad and his family.

Now, one of the biggest challenges facing the nascent government is rebuilding those forces, an effort that will be critical in uniting this still-fractured country.

But to do so, Syria’s new leaders are following a playbook that is similar to the one they used to set up their government, in which President Ahmed al-Sharaa has relied on a tightknit circle of loyalists.

The military’s new command structure favors former fighters from Sharaa’s former Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

The Syrian Defense Ministry is instituting some of the same training methods, including religious instruction, that Sharaa’s former opposition group used to become the most powerful of all the factions that fought the Assad regime during Syria’s civil war.

The New York Times interviewed nearly two dozen soldiers, commanders and new recruits in Syria who discussed the military training and shared their concerns. Nearly all spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Defense Ministry bars soldiers from speaking to the media.

Several soldiers and commanders, as well as analysts, said that some of the government’s rules had nothing to do with military preparedness.

The new leadership was fastidious about certain points, like banning smoking for on-duty soldiers. But on other aspects, soldiers said, the training felt disconnected from the needs of a modern military force.

Last spring, when a 30-year-old former opposition fighter arrived for military training in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo, instructors informed roughly 1,400 new recruits that smoking was not permitted. The former fighter said one of the instructors searched him and confiscated several cigarette packs hidden in his jacket.

The ban pushed dozens of recruits to quit immediately, and many more were kicked out for ignoring it, according to the former fighter, a slender man who chain-smoked as he spoke in Marea, a town in Aleppo Province. After three weeks, only 600 recruits had made it through the training, he said.

He stuck with it.

He said he was taken aback by other aspects of the training. The first week was devoted entirely to Islamic instruction, he said.

Soldiers and commanders said the religious training reflected the ideology that the HTS espoused when it was in power in Idlib, a province in northwestern Syria.

A Syrian defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the government had not decided whether minorities would be allowed to enlist.

Syria’s leaders are relying on a small circle of trusted comrades from HTS to lead and shape the new military, several soldiers, commanders and recruits said.

The Syrian Defense Ministry did not respond to a detailed list of questions or repeated requests for comment.

After abolishing conscription, much hated under the Assad regime, the new military recruited volunteers and set qualifications like a ninth-grade education, physical fitness and the ability to read.

But soldiers who had fought with the opposition in the civil war were grandfathered into the ranks, even if they did not fulfill all the criteria, according to several soldiers and commanders.

“They are bringing in a commander of HTS who doesn’t even have a ninth-grade education and are putting him in charge of a battalion,” said Issam al-Reis, a senior military adviser with Etana, a Syrian research group, who has spoken to many former opposition fighters currently serving in the military. “And his only qualification is that he was loyal to Ahmed al-Sharaa.”

Former HTS fighters, like fighters from many other factions, have years of guerrilla-fighting experience from the war to oust the Assad dictatorship. But most have not served as officers in a formal military with different branches such as the navy, air force and infantry and with rigid command structures, knowledge that is considered beneficial when rebuilding an army.

“The strength of an army is in its discipline,” Reis added.

Most soldiers and commanders now start with three weeks of basic training — except those who previously fought alongside Sharaa’s group.

The government has signed an initial agreement with Türkiye to train and develop the military, said Qutaiba Idlbi, director of American affairs at the Syrian Foreign Ministry. But the agreement does not include deliveries of weapons or military equipment, he said, because of American sanctions remaining on Syria.

Col. Ali Abdul Baqi, staff commander of the 70th Battalion in Damascus, is among the few high-level commanders who was not a member of the HTS. Speaking from his office in Damascus, Abdul Baqi said that had he been in Sharaa’s place, he would have built the new military in the same way.

“They aren’t going to take a risk on people they don’t know,” said the colonel, who commanded another opposition group during the civil war.

Some senior commanders said the religious instruction was an attempt to build cohesion through shared faith, not a way of forcing a specific ideology on new recruits.

“In our army, there should be a division focused on political awareness and preventing crimes against humanity and war crimes,” said Omar al-Khateeb, a law graduate, former opposition fighter and current military commander in Aleppo province. “This is more important than training us in religious doctrine we already know.”

*Raja Abdulrahim for The New York Times

Features

Winter Storm Rips through Gaza, Exposing Failure to Deliver Enough Aid to Territory

Palestinians cross a flooded street following heavy rain in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians cross a flooded street following heavy rain in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Winter Storm Rips through Gaza, Exposing Failure to Deliver Enough Aid to Territory

Palestinians cross a flooded street following heavy rain in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians cross a flooded street following heavy rain in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Rains drenched Gaza’s tent camps and dropping temperatures chilled Palestinians huddling inside them Thursday as storm Byron descended on the war-battered territory, showing how two months of a ceasefire have failed to sufficiently address the spiraling humanitarian crisis there.

Children’s sandaled feet disappeared under opaque brown water that flooded the camps. Trucks moved slowly to avoid sending waves of mud toward the tents. Piles of garbage and sewage turned to waterfalls.

“We have been drowned. I don’t have clothes to wear and we have no mattresses left,” said Um Salman Abu Qenas, a mother displaced from east of Khan Younis to a tent camp in Deir al-Balah. She said her family could not sleep the night before because of the water in the tent, The AP news reported.

Aid groups say not enough shelter aid is getting into Gaza during the truce. Figures recently released by Israel's military suggest it has not met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding.

“Cold, overcrowded, and unsanitary environments heighten the risk of illness and infection,” said the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in a terse statement posted on X. “This suffering could be prevented by unhindered humanitarian aid, including medical support and proper shelter."

Rains falling across the region wreak havoc in Gaza Sabreen Qudeeh, also in the Deir al-Balah camp, said her family woke up to rain leaking from their tent's ceiling and water from the street soaking their mattresses. “My little daughters were screaming and got shocked when they saw water on the floor,” she said.

Ahmad Abu Taha, a Palestinian man in the camp, said there was not a tent that escaped the flooding. “Conditions are very bad, we have old people, displaced, and sick people inside this camp,” he said.

In Israel, heavy rains fell and flood warnings were in effect in several parts of the country — but no major weather-related emergencies were reported as of midday.

The contrasting scenes with Gaza made clear how profoundly the Israel-Hamas war had damaged the territory, destroying the majority of homes. Gaza’s population of around 2 million is almost entirely displaced and most people live in vast tent camps stretching for miles along the beach, exposed to the elements, without adequate flooding infrastructure and with cesspits dug near tents as toilets.

The Palestinian Civil Defense, part of the Hamas-run government, said that since the storm began they have received more than 2,500 distress calls from citizens whose tents and shelters were damaged in all parts of the Gaza Strip.

Not enough aid getting in Aid groups say that Israel is not allowing enough aid into Gaza to begin rebuilding the territory after years of war.

Under the agreement, Israel agreed to comply with aid stipulations from an earlier January 2025 truce, which specified that it allow 600 trucks of aid each day into Gaza and an agreed-upon number of temporary homes and tents. It maintains it is doing so, though AP has found that some of its own figures call that into question.

COGAT said Dec. 9, without providing evidence, that it had “lately" let 260,000 tents and tarpaulins into Gaza and over 1,500 trucks of blankets and warm clothing. The Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, sets the number lower.

It says UN and international NGOs have gotten 15,590 tents into Gaza since the truce began, and other countries have sent about 48,000. Many of the tents are not properly insulated, the Cluster says.

Amjad al-Shawa, Gaza chief of the Palestinian NGO Network, told Al Jazeera Thursday that only a fraction of the 300,000 tents needed had entered Gaza. He said that Palestinians were in dire need of warmer winter clothes and accused Israel of blocking the entry of water pumps helpful to clear flooded shelters.

"All international sides should take the responsibility regarding conditions in Gaza,” he said. “There is real danger for people in Gaza at all levels.”

Senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal said that many people’s tents have become worn out after the two-year war, and people cannot find new places to shelter. He said Gaza also needs the rehabilitation of hospitals, the entry of heavy machinery to remove rubble, and the opening of the Rafah crossing — which remains closed after Israel said last week it would open in a few days.

COGAT did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claims that Israel was not allowing water pumps or heavy machinery into Gaza.

Ceasefire at a critical point Mashaal, the Hamas official, called for moving to the second, more complicated phase of the US-brokered ceasefire.

“The reconstruction should start in the second phase as today there is suffering in terms of shelter and stability,” Mashaal said in comments released by Hamas on social media.

Regional leaders have said time is critical for the ceasefire agreement as mediators seek to move to phase 2. But obstacles to moving forward remain.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that the militants needed to return the body of a final hostage first.

Hamas has said Israel must open key border crossings and cease deadly strikes on the territory.

Features

Ukraine Hasn’t Held Elections since Russia’s Full-scale Invasion. Here’s Why

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to press before his meeting with President of Cyprus in Kyiv on December 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to press before his meeting with President of Cyprus in Kyiv on December 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
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Ukraine Hasn’t Held Elections since Russia’s Full-scale Invasion. Here’s Why

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to press before his meeting with President of Cyprus in Kyiv on December 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to press before his meeting with President of Cyprus in Kyiv on December 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected suggestions that he is using the war as an excuse to cling to power, saying he is ready to hold elections if the US and other allies will help ensure the security of the poll and if the country's electoral law can be altered.

Zelenskyy’s five-year term was scheduled to end in May 2024, but elections were legally put off due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. That has become a source of tension with US President Donald Trump, who has criticized the delay as he pushes Zelenskyy to accept his proposals for ending the war.

Zelenskyy responded to that criticism on Tuesday, saying he was ready for elections.

“Moreover, I am now asking — and I am stating this openly — for the United States, possibly together with our European colleagues, to help me ensure security for holding elections,” he told reporters on WhatsApp. “And then, within the next 60–90 days, Ukraine will be ready to hold them.”

Until now, Zelenskyy has declined to hold an election until a ceasefire is declared, in line with Ukrainian law that prevents a poll from being held when martial law is in effect. Ukrainians largely support that decision.

Here is a look at why Ukraine has not been able to hold elections so far:

A wartime election would be illegal

Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The country’s constitution provides for martial law in wartime, and a separate law bars the holding of elections while it remains in force.

Beyond being illegal, any nationwide vote would pose serious security risks as Russia bombs Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones. With roughly one-fifth of the country under Russian occupation and millions of Ukrainians displaced abroad, organizing a nationwide ballot is also widely seen as logistically impossible.

It would also be difficult to find a way for Ukrainian soldiers on the front line to cast their votes, The Associated Press said.

Although Zelenskyy’s term formally expired in May 2024, Ukraine's constitution allows him to legitimately remain in office until a newly elected president is sworn in.

What Trump said

In an interview with Politico published on Tuesday, Trump said it was time for Ukraine to hold elections.

“They’re using war not to hold an election, but, uh, I would think the Ukrainian people ... should have that choice. And maybe Zelenskyy would win. I don’t know who would win.

“But they haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”

Trump's comments on elections echo Moscow's stance. The Kremlin has used Zelenskyy’s remaining in power after his expired term as a tool to cast him as an illegitimate leader.

What Zelenskyy said Zelenskyy reiterated previous statements that the decision about when to hold elections was one for the Ukrainian people, not its international allies.

The first question, he said, is whether an election could be held securely while Ukraine is under attack from Russia. But in the event that the US and other allies can guarantee the security of the poll, Zelenskyy said he is asking lawmakers to propose legal changes that would allow elections to be held under martial law.

“I’ve heard it suggested that we’re clinging to power, or that I’m personally holding on to the president’s seat, that I’m clinging to it, and that this is supposedly why the war is not ending. This, frankly, is a completely absurd story.”

Zelenskyy has few political rivals

Holding elections in the middle of a war would also sow division in Ukrainian society at a time when the country should be united against Russia, Zelenskyy has said.

One potential candidate who could challenge Zelenskyy in an election is former army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the current Ukrainian ambassador to Britain. Zaluzhnyi has denied plans to enter politics, though public opinion surveys show him as a potential Zelenskyy rival.

Petro Poroshenko also is a key political rival of Zelenskyy’s and the leader of the largest opposition party. He is unlikely to run again, analysts said, but his backing of a particular candidate would be consequential.