Lebanon President Calls for End to Israeli Attacks in Meeting with US Envoy

In this handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on October 28, 2025, US Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus (L) meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. (Lebanese Presidency)
In this handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on October 28, 2025, US Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus (L) meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. (Lebanese Presidency)
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Lebanon President Calls for End to Israeli Attacks in Meeting with US Envoy

In this handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on October 28, 2025, US Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus (L) meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. (Lebanese Presidency)
In this handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on October 28, 2025, US Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus (L) meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. (Lebanese Presidency)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called for an end to Israeli strikes on his country during his meeting with US envoy Morgan Ortagus on Tuesday, amid intensified Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities with Iran-backed Hezbollah, usually saying it is targeting members of the group.

In October alone, Israeli strikes killed 23 people in Lebanon, according to the country's health ministry.

A statement released by the presidency said Aoun had asserted in his meeting with the US envoy "the need to activate the work of the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Committee... particularly with regard to halting the ongoing Israeli violations".

A five-member committee, which includes the United States and France, is in charge of overseeing the implementation of the truce.

Ortagus is expected to attend the committee's meeting this week.

Aoun also emphasized "the need to enable southern citizens to return to their homes and repair damaged ones, especially with winter approaching".

Israeli strikes in recent weeks have targeted excavators and bulldozers. Lebanese officials believe these strikes aim to prevent any reconstruction work in the war-ravaged south.

The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday that it had verified the killing of 111 civilians by Israeli forces since the ceasefire in Lebanon.

As part of last year's ceasefire deal, Israeli troops were to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle any military infrastructure in the south.

According to the agreement, only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are to be deployed in the south of the country.

Under US pressure and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government has moved to begin disarming Hezbollah, a plan the movement and its allies oppose.

Despite the terms of the truce, Israel has kept troops deployed in five border points it deems strategic.



EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.


Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The atrocities unleashed on El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region last October were a "preventable human rights catastrophe", the United Nations said Monday, warning they now risked being repeated in the neighbouring Kordofan region.

 

"My office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El-Fasher for more than a year ... but our warnings were ignored," UN rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 

He added that he was now "extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region".

 

 

 

 


Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The General Secretariat of the Arab League strongly condemned decisions by Israeli occupation authorities to impose fundamental changes on the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and signed agreements, SPA reported.

In a statement, the Arab League said the measures include facilitating the confiscation of private Palestinian property and transferring planning and licensing authorities in the city of Hebron and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque to occupation authorities.

It warned of the serious repercussions of these actions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The statement reaffirmed the Arab League’s firm support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.