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Aoun Announces Exclusion of ‘Parties and Sects’ from Decision-Making in Lebanon

Aoun chairs the Cabinet session at the Lebanese Presidential Palace. (Lebanese Presidency) 
Aoun chairs the Cabinet session at the Lebanese Presidential Palace. (Lebanese Presidency) 
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Aoun Announces Exclusion of ‘Parties and Sects’ from Decision-Making in Lebanon

Aoun chairs the Cabinet session at the Lebanese Presidential Palace. (Lebanese Presidency) 
Aoun chairs the Cabinet session at the Lebanese Presidential Palace. (Lebanese Presidency) 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun affirmed that decision-making in the country rests exclusively with the government, not political parties or sects. He stressed that reforms are essential for Lebanon’s stability, beyond being an international demand.

Aoun’s remarks came during the first cabinet meeting at Baabda Palace following the government’s vote of confidence. The session addressed a 25-item agenda, along with urgent matters. Before the meeting, the president held discussions with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on current developments.

The government approved the 2025 budget by decree and tasked the finance minister with revising certain fees within a week. It also adopted a plan to implement reforms based on priority.

Aoun briefed the cabinet on his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He stated that Riyadh is open to supporting Lebanon once reforms are enacted. He also requested the lifting of the travel ban on Saudis visiting Lebanon and the facilitation of Lebanese exports to the Kingdom, noting that these matters are under review. A follow-up visit to Saudi Arabia is planned after Eid al-Fitr, with several ministers expected to sign bilateral agreements.

Aoun also discussed his participation in the emergency Arab summit in Egypt, where he met with ten heads of state. He highlighted their support for Lebanon, pending reforms, and noted interest in visiting the country. He mentioned that Jordan’s King Abdullah II pledged political and military support, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas backed Lebanon’s policies regarding Palestinian refugee camps.

Regarding the appointments, Aoun stressed that only the cabinet has the authority to make decisions, urging ministers to maintain confidentiality and avoid political interference.

After the session, Salam announced that future meetings would be held in an independent location in line with the Taif Agreement, with details to be revealed next week.

Foreign Minister Youssef Raji indicated that diplomatic appointments are under review, with a temporary extension granted to six ambassadors. Meanwhile, Information Minister Paul Morcos announced tax exemptions for those affected by the Israeli war and the appointment of 63 specialized officers in the Internal Security Forces.

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Arab World

Building Collapses Pose Another Threat to People in Gaza

Palestinians walk along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)
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Building Collapses Pose Another Threat to People in Gaza

Palestinians walk along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)

Residents of Gaza are taking the risk of living in damaged buildings despite their possibility of collapse, opting to live with a roof over their heads than stay in tents that do little to shelter them from the cold, rain and wind.

The enclave had been under a cold front that brought with it heavy rain and strong winds that led to the collapse of 20 damaged houses and buildings in less than ten days, claiming the lives of over 15 Palestinians.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, a Civil Defense spokesman warned against delaying in tackling the issue of damaged buildings.

A building collapsed in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza in the early morning on Sunday, killing a man, his wife, two children and granddaughter, who had lost her father and son during the war.

Civil Defense teams managed to rescue three members of the family from under the rubble of the multi-storey building that had been partially damaged during the conflict.

In just the past ten days, no less than six buildings collapsed in Sheikh Radwan.

Experts believed that the Israeli forces’ demolition operations have raised the risk of collapse of damaged buildings.

The forces are deploying booby-trapped vehicles and remotely detonating them. The strength of the detonations can be felt several kilometers away, even in Israel itself.

Israel is carrying out these operations along the so-called yellow line that is serving as a new military boundary in Gaza.

Civil Defense spokesman in Gaza Mahmoud Basal said over 90 residential buildings are at the risk of collapse because they are partially damaged. Thousands of people live in those houses and have no other shelter.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that specialized teams have carried out field tours and inspections of the buildings, urging residents to evacuate them given the risk.

He added that the Civil Defense is facing a shortage in tools to rescue people from a building in case of a collapse, saying teams are relying on primitive means to rescue people from under the rubble.

Meanwhile, people sheltering in tents can do little to shield themselves from the cold, Basal added. The tents are prone to taking in rainwater and have already been damaged by the elements.

He underlined the need to come to the aid of the people of Gaza and to rebuild the enclave because delays are only putting lives in danger.

Arab World

Sudan Drone Attack on Darfur Market Kills 10

Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)
Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)
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Sudan Drone Attack on Darfur Market Kills 10

Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)
Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)

A drone attack on a busy market in Sudan's North Darfur state killed 10 people over the weekend, first responders said on Sunday, without saying who was responsible.

The attack comes as fighting intensified elsewhere in the country, leading aid workers to be evacuated on Sunday from Kadugli, a besieged, famine-hit city in the south.

Since April 2023, Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a conflict which has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

The North Darfur Emergency Rooms Council, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across Sudan, said a drone strike hit Al-Harra market in the RSF-controlled town of Malha on Saturday.

The attack killed 10 people, it said.

The council did not identify who carried out the attack, which it said had also sparked "fire in shops and caused extensive material damage".

There was no immediate comment from either the Sudanese army or the RSF.

The war's current focal point is now South Kordofan and clashes have escalated in Kadugli, the state capital, where a drone attack last week killed eight people as they attempted to flee the army-controlled city.

A source from a humanitarian organization operating in Kadugli told AFP on Sunday that humanitarian groups had "evacuated all their workers" from the city because of the security conditions.

The evacuation followed the United Nations' decision to relocate its logistics hub from Kadugli, the source said on condition of anonymity, without specifying where the staff had gone.

- Measles outbreak -

Kadugli and nearby Dilling have been besieged by paramilitary forces since the war erupted.

Last week, the RSF claimed control of the Brno area, a key defensive line on the road between Kadugli and Dilling.

After dislodging the army in October from the western city of el-Fasher -- its last stronghold in the Darfur region -- the RSF has shifted its focus to resource-rich Kordofan, a strategic crossroads linking army-held northern and eastern territories with RSF-held Darfur in the west.

Like Darfur, Kordofan is home to numerous non-Sudanese Arab ethnic groups. Much of the violence that followed the fall of el-Fasher was reportedly ethnically targeted.

Communications in Kordofan have been cut, and the United Nations declared a famine in Kadugli last month.

According to the UN's International Organization for Migration, more than 50,000 civilians have fled the region since the end of October.

Residents have been forced to forage for food in nearby forests, according to accounts gathered by AFP.

Doctors without Borders (MSF) said on Sunday that measles was spreading in three of the four states in Darfur, a vast region covering much of western Sudan.

"A preventable measles outbreak is spreading across Central, South and West Darfur," the organization said in a statement.

"Since September 2025, MSF teams have treated more than 1,300 cases. Delays in vaccine transport, approvals and coordination, by authorities and key partners are leaving children unprotected."

Arab World

Foreign Press Group Welcomes Israel Court Deadline on Gaza Access

A Palestinian man carries the body of his 5-month-old brother, Ahmed Al-Nader, who was reportedly killed the previous day along with other family members in an Israeli shelling on a school-turned-shelter in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, ahead of his funeral on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian man carries the body of his 5-month-old brother, Ahmed Al-Nader, who was reportedly killed the previous day along with other family members in an Israeli shelling on a school-turned-shelter in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, ahead of his funeral on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
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Foreign Press Group Welcomes Israel Court Deadline on Gaza Access

A Palestinian man carries the body of his 5-month-old brother, Ahmed Al-Nader, who was reportedly killed the previous day along with other family members in an Israeli shelling on a school-turned-shelter in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, ahead of his funeral on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian man carries the body of his 5-month-old brother, Ahmed Al-Nader, who was reportedly killed the previous day along with other family members in an Israeli shelling on a school-turned-shelter in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, ahead of his funeral on December 20, 2025. (AFP)

The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court's decision to set January 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.

Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by Palestinian group Hamas's attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.

Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the supreme court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.

On October 23, the court held a first hearing on the case, and decided to give Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan for granting access.

Since then, the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with their plan, but on Saturday it set January 4 as a final deadline.

"If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file," the court said.

The FPA welcomed the court's latest directive.

"After two years of the state's delay tactics, we are pleased that the court's patience has finally run out," the association said in a statement.

"We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.

"And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognize and uphold those freedoms," it added.