A Bundle Of English Reports, Editorials and Analysis Addressing Recent Important Unfolding Events In The Iranian Occupied Lebanon/رزمة متفرقة من التقارير والتحاليل والمقالات تتناول آخر التطورات والأخبار في لبنان المحتل من قبل إيران وحزبها المجرم والإرهابي والمذهبي

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A Bundle Of English Reports, Editorials and Analysis Addressing Recent Important Unfolding Events In The Iranian Occupied Lebanon/

رزمة متفرقة من التقارير والتحاليل والمقالات تتناول آخر التطورات والأخبار في لبنان المحتل من قبل إيران وحزبها المجرم والإرهابي والمذهبي

*Macron to meet iconic singer Fairuz in push for Lebanon reform/Arab News/August 28/2020

*Beirut, Which Lives Inside of Me/Dr. Ali Awad Asiri/Former Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020

*Nasrallah in Lebanon and Iran focus on Israel tensions/Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020

*Is Turkey moving into northern Lebanon?/Jonathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020

*Lebanon may be broken beyond repair/Clifford D. May/ The Washington Times/August 27/ 2020

*Lebanon’s new cabinet awaits international deal while the country is in agony/Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/August 27/2020

*Lebanon’s attempt to move back toward neutrality met with resistance from Hezbollah/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/August 27/2020

*After Beirut explosion, can the international community protect Lebanese protesters?/Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya/August 27/2020

*Aoun to Paris Match: I am determined to put an end to corruption and to continue the struggle to dismantle the corruption mafia cartel/NNA/August 27/2020

*President Aoun receives Foreign Minister of Canada, Director General of UNESCO
NNA/August 27/2020

*Qatar is back in Lebanon with vague promises of help/The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020

*Beirut Residents Determined to Save Heritage Lost to Blast/Associated Press/Naharnet/August 28/2020

*What was behind Hezbollah’s new attack on the IDF?/Yochanan Visser/Arutz Sheva/August 28/2020

*The French Wish List for Lebanon/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020′

*UNSC Draft Resolution Aims to Prevent Hezbollah’s Violations in South Lebanon/New York – Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020

*UN Resolution Being Voted on Would Cut Lebanon Peacekeepers/Associated Press/August 28/2020

*The effort to save Beirut’s heritage destroyed by port blast/Samar Kadi/The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020

*France draws reform roadmap for Lebanon, calls on elite to act/The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020

*Security jumps to the fore with a rabbi’s murder by a Palestinian, Hizballah shooting/DEBKAFile/August 28/2020

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Macron to meet iconic singer Fairuz in push for Lebanon reform/Arab News/August 28/2020
*Fairuz, 85, is famously private and rarely seen in public but throughout her career has roused fans with her songs about love and in praise of the beauty of her troubled nation
*Karim Emile Bitar, a political science professor, tweeted “excellent decision” by Macron to meet Fairuz, describing her as “arguably the most iconic, dignified and consensual Lebanese figure”
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron will next week meet iconic singer Fairuz and members of Lebanon’s political leadership as he returns to the country in search of serious reform in the wake of the devastating Beirut port blast, the Elysee said Friday. Macron will be in Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday for his second visit in less than a month after the August 4 blast at the Beirut port that killed 181 people and revived calls for radical change in the country. One of his first meetings after arriving on Monday will be with Fairuz, one of the rare figures in Lebanon who is admired across the multi-confessional country, the Elysee said. Fairuz, 85, is famously private and rarely seen in public but throughout her career has roused fans with her songs about love and in praise of the beauty of her troubled nation.Karim Emile Bitar, a political science professor in France and Lebanon, tweeted Friday it was an “excellent decision” by Macron to meet Fairuz, describing her as “arguably the most iconic, dignified and consensual Lebanese figure.”Macron will meet political leaders at the palace of President Michel Aoun on Tuesday with the aim of encouraging movement in a political process already mired in stalemate. “He won’t let go,” said an Elysee source, who asked not to be named. “The purpose of his visit is clear: to push for the conditions to be met for the formation of a government that is capable of carrying out reconstruction and reforms,” added the source. Premier Hassan Diab’s cabinet has resigned over the blast, which was blamed on a store of ammonium nitrate left for years in a port warehouse despite warnings. Macron’s arrival Monday will coincide with the start of parliamentary consultations on the choice of a new prime minister. On August 9, Macron chaired a video conference that saw world leaders pledge more than 250 million euros ($295 million) for Lebanon. But France has made clear its patience is far from limitless; Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Thursday that Lebanon risked “disappearing” as a country unless serious reforms are undertaken.

Beirut, Which Lives Inside of Me
Dr. Ali Awad Asiri/Former Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
I know that the first plane to fly on the air bridge for sending medical aid and supplies departed to Lebanon on the instructions of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz minutes after the devastating explosion that destroyed the port and half of our beloved, Beirut.
I know well that it carried the deep pain and broken hearts of every one of us in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over Beirut and Lebanon, which is of momentous significance to us and with which we have a deep historical bond. We have deep fraternal adoration for this city that occupies ample space in our hearts and minds, our concerns and great pain over this extraordinary betrayed capital, which has always been and will remain the bride of the Arabs.
O Beirut, city of history, beloved of poetry and the poets, O verses of poems, O mother of ordinance, O magical restoration of Arab world; our hearts bleed for your inundation with martyrs, the pain of their families and the despaired and the flood of tears shed by your squares and tiles. O Beirut, which we cherished and cherished us, how can we heal your wounds and wipe your tears as you moan in devastation, pain and dejection? O the horror and brutality, the depth of bitterness in our hearts invoked this vicious crime committed against you.
I have come to know you well, O Beirut, O Lebanon and O beloved Lebanese. I knew you as a jubilant ambassador and dear brother in your country, where friendships broaden and the relationships of brotherhood were never punctuated. Overwhelmed with emotion and sadness, I can almost hear, from here in Aseer, the wailing of that sea that has always washed the feet of the beloved, tormented city, the sea which I always watched giving its morning greetings to our embassy and sending peace of loyalty, friendship and love to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is no wonder that Beirut and Riyadh have a Siamese relationship, inseparable from love, friendliness and the weight of history.
The brutal explosion that devastated the authentic Arab capital left us overwhelmed with pain, tears and wounded feelings for a city that we loved and adored.
I know very well that people normally inhabit cities, but Beirut is the magnificent city that resides in me wherever I am. It remains inside you, and your love’s depth is not lessened, no matter how far you are from it. It definitely not be an exaggeration to say that the horrendous explosion shook my being, struck my family and me and caused us great pain, not only because we have loved ones, friends and people we consider kin in Beirut, but also because between my country and Lebanon is a history of brotherhood, love and camaraderie dating back 68 years, specifically when the late president, Camille Chamoun, became the first Lebanese president to visit the Kingdom in 1952. He initiated a history of firm fraternity that existed in the past, remains in present and will continue in the future.
I know very well that the founding king’s advice continues to reverberate. He said to his guest: “The fabric of Lebanon and the plurality of its sects and creeds give it an advantage and singularity, and it should distance itself from the axis and alliances and focus on the importance of dialogue, understanding and solidarity between all Lebanese sects and factions, so that it may be blessed security and stability and protected from ambitions, in a framework of firm national unity that protects it and safeguards its independence.”
It is its history that allocates for Beirut a place in the heart of every Saudi and every sincere Arab, and so the criminal explosion came to crush all of our hearts. I know very well that the vanguards of the Saudi air bridge to Beirut not only carried medical relief, aid and donations, but also carried our hearts, our pain and our distress over Beirut, the beloved city, the capital Lebanon, which Saudi Arabia has long described as the center of Arab cooperation…
With all of the hardship and pain, we hope that our love for Beirut will serve as a bandage for the wounds and alleviate those who have lost their loved ones. I will never forget the day I said to the Lebanese family when I had been ambassador to Beirut: “The record of the fraternal relationship brings our two countries together with incalculable love bearing the signature of seven dear letters, Lebanon.”
O beloved Beirut, your sorrows overwhelm us and your wounds shed blood from our bodies. We have always been two Siamese brothers, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is not only building a bridge merely for relief and aid, but rather a bridge of hearts that beats in a wounded Beirut, Beirut that lives inside of me.

Nasrallah in Lebanon and Iran focus on Israel tensions
Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020
Hezbollah wants to pose as secure in its power and prepare to threaten Israel at a time of its choosing.
An incident along Israel’s border this week enabled Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to once again say he was watching developments in southern Lebanon closely. This will enable Hezbollah to claim that the incident, which was reported in Israeli media and by the IDF, did not affect Hezbollah.
The group did the same after an incident near Mount Dov in late July and in Syria on August 3. Hezbollah wants to pose as being secure in its power and prepare to threaten Israel at a time of its choosing. It claimed it had a right to respond after one of its members was killed in Syria on July 20.
What does Hezbollah say? Nasrallah responded to reports of a clash on Wednesday along the Israeli border near Manara with cautious statements about how “sensitive” the area is. Fars News in Iran said Nasrallah highlighted how Israel was on “alert.”
His message is that he has foiled Israel and tricked it into remaining on alert and that Hezbollah can keep up the pressure. “An appropriate response will be made,” Hezbollah said. Israel’s “aggressive” actions will be answered, Nasrallah said this week while commemorating the importance of Ashura, a Shi’ite holy day, and the week’s events leading up to it.
The tension comes amid Iran’s claims that it will let nuclear inspectors visit two sites. It also comes as Qatar sent an envoy to Gaza to try to reduce tensions with Israel. It was unclear if those tensions will be reduced. Hamas also sent leaders to Turkey this week, where they met Turkey’s president.
It looks like a regional consensus is afoot with Turkey, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all seeking to push tensions with Israel, but on their own time and place of choosing. These groups all oppose the Israel-UAE deal and have watched US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo roam the region this week. He was in Israel, Sudan, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman.
Meanwhile, Lebanon said it would file a complaint with the UN about this week’s border incident. Lebanon claims some “30 projectiles” were fired by Israel into Lebanon, according to Press TV in Iran. Hezbollah also claimed it downed an Israeli drone on August 23.
The overall narrative among supporters of Hezbollah is that it keeps building up reasons to “respond” to Israel. It is unclear if that is a convenient narrative amid Lebanon’s many problems, or if it is more serious.

Is Turkey moving into northern Lebanon?
Jonathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020
BEHIND THE LINES: First signs emerge that Sunni Islamist Ankara is seeking to fill the vacuum
According to a report on the pro-Saudi Al Arabiya website published on August 19, officials in Lebanon are concerned at increased indications of Turkish efforts to build strength and influence in the country. The report quoted two sources in Lebanese intelligence, who mentioned recent Turkish efforts to bring weapons into northern Lebanon. “We are pretty worried about what’s going on. The Turks are sending an incredible amount of weapons into the north,” the website quoted its source as saying.
These reports await confirmation, and Al Arabiya is of course a media source linked to Saudi Arabia – a state rival of Turkey’s. But the evidence for a broader Turkish effort to build influence and allies in Lebanon in recent months is considerable, and solid. As are the indications of a Turkish-controlled infrastructure emerging in Sunni northern Lebanon. Both fit with the broader pattern both of Turkish behavior and of broader regional realities.
In terms of the former, Turkey is actively involved using both its own forces and proxies in the two fragmented Arab countries to Lebanon’s east – Syria and Iraq. The deployments in both countries already have the look of the long term about them, with clearly defined areas of control. Turkey is also active in Libya, where its backing of Fayez Sarraj’s government almost certainly prevented the fall of Tripoli to the forces of Gen. Khalifa Haftar earlier this year.
To these areas add Turkey’s aggressive naval stance in the Eastern Mediterranean, and its active backing of Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank and of Islamist organizations in Jerusalem. All these add up to a strategy in which Ankara is seeking to emerge as the main strategic beneficiary of the chaos and fragmentation that has gripped much of the region over the last decade.
Regarding broader regional realities, Iraq, Syria, Libya – and Lebanon – today are geographical spaces rather than states in the sense traditionally understood. Within these spaces, rival regional and global powers are competing for ascendancy. Turkey is a central player in the first three countries named. It would be surprising if it were not active in the fourth.
Other regional players are paying close attention to Turkey’s belligerent stance. The Times this week reported Mossad head Yossi Cohen as telling Arab intelligence chiefs that “Iranian power is fragile… but the real threat is from Turkey.”
In the countries mentioned above, Turkey seeks to leverage both its Sunni Islamist credentials to appeal to Sunni Arab populations, and where relevant its Turkic ethnicity to appeal to Turkic remnant populations in the Levant. Available evidence suggests that in Lebanon, a similar pattern is being followed. Turkey has been working slowly and assiduously, via NGOs and government relief organizations such as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency – TIKA – (also active in Jerusalem), to establish its foothold in the country.
A recent article by Mohanad Hage Ali at the Carnegie Middle East Center noted the arrest on July 4 of two Turkish and two Syrian citizens on a flight to Lebanon from Turkey. The four attempted to smuggle $4 million into the country. Lebanese Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi claimed that the money was intended to finance street-level protests against the Lebanese government.
Turkey’s activities appear to be taking place at the grassroots level, and to be centered around the northern city of Tripoli, an urban center for the Lebanese Sunni population. It is a conservative, religious place and a stronghold of Sunni political Islam. As such, the area is a natural focus for Turkey. The Akkar Governorate, home to Lebanon’s tiny Turkmen minority, is also an area of interest.
A July 12 article by Nahla Nasir al-Din on the Asas website of former Lebanese interior minister Nohad Machnouk, accused Turkey of seeking to “occupy Tripoli,” and included details of alleged Turkish activities in these areas. The article contains a welter of detail on alleged Turkish activities in northern Lebanon.
It named Gen. Ashraf Rifi, former head of the Internal Security Forces and former justice minister, as a collaborator with Turkish intelligence in Ankara’s efforts in this area. Nasir al-Din also names Bahaa Hariri, eldest son of murdered prime minister Rafik Hariri, as engaged in the Turkish intelligence’s project to create a network of grassroots religious and political organizations among Lebanese Sunnis in Tripoli. The purpose of the network would be for it to act as a tool for the advancement of Turkish influence in Lebanon, available to be mobilized and brought to the streets at the appropriate time.
Nasir al-Din further claimed that direct links are maintained in Beirut between representatives of the ruling Turkish party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and the local Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood party, Jamaa Islamiya.
A July 13 article by Firas al-Shoufi in the pro-Hezbollah Al Akhbar newspaper summed up the situation in the following terms: “Turkish activity in Lebanon takes many forms, all leading in one direction, which is to strengthen Turkish influence among the Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, specifically in the north, and to confront the already eroding Saudi-Emirati influence in the war of leadership of the ‘Sunni world’ raging between Saudi Arabia and its allies on the one hand, and Turkey and its allies on the other hand.”
Shoufi named specific social welfare projects undertaken by TIKA in the Tripoli and Akkar areas, such as “opening roads, digging wells for drinking and irrigation water and providing food aid.” He further notes that “General-Director of the Sûreté Générale [Lebanon’s main internal security organization] Maj.- Gen. Abbas Ibrahim made a series of observations about the Turkish performance during a meeting of the Supreme Council of Defense, on the basis of the need for the Lebanese state to monitor what foreign parties do inside Lebanon. Ibrahim also contacted the Turkish ambassador in Beirut, Hakan Cakil, and asked him about Turkey’s relationship with groups carrying flags and engaging in social activism in the north, who carry out actions that threaten security and block roads.’
Shoufi’s identification of the Turks moving into a vacuum left by the relative absence of the Saudis and Emiratis is of particular note. All the evidence cited in the various Arabic outlets cited above should be treated with some caution. It is not yet possible to draw a definitive picture of the details of Turkish activity in northern Lebanon. But the very fact that the issue appears able to raise the joint concerns of channels affiliated with or supportive of Saudi Arabia (Al Arabiya) and Iran/Hezbollah (Al Akhbar) indicates that something does appear to be going on.
The fragile Lebanese sectarian balance has been shattered over the last decade by the entry of around one million overwhelmingly Sunni Syrian refugees. Their presence has reversed the previous sense of an inexorable rise of the Shia to ascendancy in Lebanon. Until now, however, no force has proven able to harness the potential Sunni power in Lebanon to its cause. The Saudi-supported March 14 Movement was vanquished on the streets of West Beirut by Hezbollah and Amal in May-June 2008. The Gulf Arabs appeared to have more or less conceded the country to the Iranians, content to allow Iran and its local franchise to deal with a collapsing economy and infrastructure.
As of now, however, the first signs are emerging that Sunni Islamist Turkey is seeking to fill the vacuum, and to recruit the Lebanese Sunni street to its banner. Something is happening in northern Lebanon.

Lebanon may be broken beyond repair
Clifford D. May/ The Washington Times/August 27/ 2020

كلففورد دي. ماي/واشنطن تيمز: ربما قد يكون لبنان عصي على الإصلاح
Its debt is massive, its political class corrupt, and terrorists call the shots
Earlier this month, two days after a catastrophic explosion in Beirut’s port, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived on the scene, wearing a black mourning tie and a face mask, his shirt sleeves rolled up, as if he were ready to clear the rubble himself. “I’m here to help you,” he told shell-shocked survivors in the formerly elegant Gemmayze neighborhood. It’s doubtful he’ll succeed.
Long before this blast, Lebanon had begun shattering, politically and economically. Its elites bear the blame, and street protests against them have raged for almost two years.
Often not made clear in the media: It is Hezbollah, an internationally designated terrorist organization loyal to Iran’s rulers, that has been calling the shots – literally as well as figuratively. And Hezbollah is accustomed to getting away with murder – literally as well as figuratively.
An example? Rafik Hariri was one of Lebanon’s most prominent politicians. A Sunni, he was seen by Hezbollah’s Shia leaders as a rival and an irritant.
On Feb. 14, 2005, he was killed by a suicide bomber in downtown Beirut. Twenty-one bystanders perished along with him. To bring those responsible to justice, the U.N. created a Special Tribunal. It was touted as “the first tribunal of international character to prosecute terrorist crimes.” It soon had a staff of 400 including 11 full-time judges and a $60-million annual budget. Last week, this elephant gave birth to a mouse.
The Tribunal convicted Salim Ayyash, a mid-level Hezbollah member, of participating in a conspiracy to carry out the bombing. He was tried in absentia, and his whereabouts are unknown. Three other defendants, also Hezbollah members, were acquitted for “lack of evidence.”
Another prime suspect had been Mustafa Amine Badreddinne, believed also to have helped plan the 1983 bombings of American and French military personnel in Beirut, and American and French diplomats in Kuwait. He was killed four years ago in Syria, where, on orders from Tehran, he was leading Hezbollah’s military operations in support of the Assad dictatorship. After that, the Tribunal ended investigations into his role.
In its ruling, the Tribunal did note that Hezbollah had motive to “eliminate” Mr. Hariri. But prosecutors claimed they just couldn’t find the evidence needed to make a conclusive determination.
The year following Mr. Hariri’s assassination, Hezbollah precipitated a war with Israel. To halt the fighting, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1701 which called for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to withdraw from Lebanon, and Hezbollah to be disarmed by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).
The IDF did as instructed. Hezbollah did not. The LAF and Unifil made no attempt to force the issue.
Since then, Hezbollah has gone on to become Lebanon’s most powerful actor. No other Lebanese political party has its own militia. Hezbollah’s militia is so strong that the LAF dares not challenge or even offend it.
Hezbollah has installed as many as 150,000 missiles, all aimed at Israel, recently adding an estimated 300 precision-guided munitions (PGMs) that may be capable of evading Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
These missiles have been placed in homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques which means Hezbollah is using civilians as human shields in flagrant violation of international law. Hezbollah also has been attempting to dig terrorist tunnels into Israel.
With a force of more than 10,000 and a budget of half a billion dollars a year, 28 percent of which comes from America, Unifil has turned a blind eye.
The explosion on Aug. 4 killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands, and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The dominant theory is that welders accidently ignited materials that detonated nearly 3,000 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for six years in the port, where Hezbollah has free reign. Ammonium nitrate is useful for agriculture, and terrorist bomb-making.
I’ve saved the worst for last. James Rickards, an eminent economist, this month completed a 57-page report commissioned by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. His conclusion: “Lebanon today is broke. The entire country has been picked clean by terrorists, criminals, elites and the political class.”
More specifically, he calculates that Lebanon is $93 billion in debt, which doesn’t count the several billion needed to rebuild from the blast. Recall that in the largest bailout in world history, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came up with $57 billion for Argentina. That was two years ago, before the global economy was crippled by a virus from China. And Argentina’s population exceeds 45 million. Lebanon’s is under seven.
Even if donors were to provide sufficient funds, it’s not clear how the money could be utilized. Mr. Rickards’ research reveals that Lebanon’s entire banking sector is insolvent and compromised. He calls the Banque du Liban (BdL), the central bank, “the most corrupt and incompetent central bank in the world. It is at the heart of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history.”
Lebanon was a protectorate of France following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and the French feel a special responsibility and affection for the long-suffering land. Last week, Mr. Macron hosted a video call from his summer retreat on the French Riviera, asking world leaders to write big checks. He reportedly raised $300 million, nowhere near enough to fill the hole Lebanon is in.
While favoring some reforms, Mr. Macron has said not a word about disarming or otherwise defanging Hezbollah. He doesn’t seem to grasp that so long as armed terrorists subservient to Iran’s revolutionary rulers are calling the shots in Lebanon, investing billions of dollars in an against-the-odds effort to save the country would be a fool’s errand.
*Clifford D. May is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on Twitter @CliffordDMay.

Lebanon’s new cabinet awaits international deal while the country is in agony/Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/August 27/2020
The resignation of Lebanon’s Cabinet shortly after the Beirut port blasts was not a surprising step. Rather, it was the bare minimum expected from the government following the explosions that obliterated 40 percent of the capital on August 4.
Now the task at hand is to create a new Cabinet – a complicated issue in the country that relies on the so-called consociation democracy, whereby all the powers have a share and a say in the construction of the executive branch, occasionally exercising mutual vetoes on one another.
International efforts led by French President Emmanuel Macron who visited the devastated Lebanese capital a couple of days after the blasts have focused on the necessity of quickly creating a new Cabinet. But visiting international envoys have also emphasized the need to launch long-awaited reforms, regardless of the Cabinet that takes over. US State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale emphasized that Washington is looking forward to see reforms initiated, regardless of whether the upcoming Cabinet includes members of Hezbollah or persons affiliated with it, clarifying that it has lived with such options previously. Hale’s statement comes after it was revealed in Beirut that Hezbollah’s senior official met with French President Macron twice during his visit to Beirut. One of the two meetings was kept behind the scenes with no media coverage until a Hezbollah Member of Parliament revealed it in a TV talk show Thursday night. It is not yet clear in Beirut whether former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, will return to office, or if a new name will emerge to head the new government.
However, Hariri’s return has not yet been cleared by France and other international actors. Where Macron initially said he supported a national unity government that presumably would’ve been headed by Hariri, he later backtracked to emphasize that any upcoming Cabinet would have to focus on reforms. It seems that the search for an alternative continues.
Neither international nor local players have a clear choice for the new prime minister, which has led President Michel Aoun to delay calling on Parliamentarians to nominate a new prime minister, a step that is stipulated in the constitution. While the constitution doesn’t set out a time frame in which nominations must happen, the spirit of the constitution implies that this should happen without delay.
But the president is once again repeating the precedent he previously set with the Diab cabinet, which is agreeing on the prime minister and Cabinet prior to calling for mandatory consultations. The constitution is clear that those consultations are mandatory, and the president has to respect the outcome of such a parliamentary vote and thus designate the candidate who receives the most votes as prime minister. The prime minister designate then sets to creating a new Cabinet in coordination with the president, not vice versa.
Aside from this constitutional issue, Lebanese politicians have not committed to nominating Hariri again. With the exception of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, all other powers are freezing their position awaiting clearance from regional and international powers. Even Hariri himself is still hesitant to take that step before securing acknowledgment from influential players, especially Riyadh, Paris and Washington.
The verdict issued by the Special Tribunal for (STL) convicting Hezbollah member Salim Ayyash of plotting and executing the assassination of Rafik Hariri back in 2005 has only complicated matters further. However, several groups in Beirut found the verdict disappointing as it did not implicate Hezbollah directly in the verdict. The tribunal’s prerogative is not to try states or organizations, but individuals. Yet, for Hariri the problem is doubled. He cannot chair a Cabinet that includes Hezbollah members as it will be politically embarrassing for him to sit at the same table with the party officially responsible for killing his father.
With the exception of the most recently resigned cabinet that took less than two months to be born, previous government making efforts have proven the process to be tedious and difficult. The last cabinet, because it was essentially supported and controlled by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Hezbollah and opposed by almost all other political parties, was formed rather quickly following Hariri’s resignation.
Aoun, before he assumed the presidency, once delayed the creation of a new cabinet for almost eight months because he insisted that his son in law Gebran Bassil was appointed to a ministerial position, despite the fact that he had lost a parliamentary election.
The 1989 Taif Accord that ended 15 years of civil war set in place a system where executive power was vested in the collective power of the council of ministers. The Accord, which was a Saudi-led, internationally supported political agreement created fierce competition between the different stakeholders.
However, Lebanon does not have the ability to sustain its economy that is in free fall any longer. The luxury of prolonged cabinet negotiations has been lost, and a new government must be formed immediately for the country to begin moving forward from the detrimental effects of the blasts and to revive its ailing economy.

Lebanon’s attempt to move back toward neutrality met with resistance from Hezbollah/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/August 27/2020
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai handed Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs State David Hale a copy of his initiative “Lebanon’s positive neutrality,” during the US diplomat’s visit to Lebanon. Days later, in a press conference, al-Rai presented his initiative, which seemed heavy on history and light on policy and governance. A week later, al-Rai doubled down on his position by calling on the state to bust “illegal arms depots in residential neighborhoods” so as to avoid a fate like that of the Beirut port explosion. Hezbollah rebutted through one of its newspapers, which accused the Maronite top cleric of peddling “enemy propaganda and Israeli talking points.”
In his efforts, al-Rai has tried to return Lebanon to its founding principles, moving away from the Lebanon that Hezbollah has hijacked and forced its own vision upon.
Al-Rai had explained his initiative by saying that Lebanon once reaped considerable economic rewards from its “regional neutrality,” serving as the destination of Arab tourism, education and healthcare. In his initiative, however, al-Rai barely mentioned economics, and instead focused on the narrative upon which Lebanon was founded. According to the Lebanese cleric, when the French were about to draft the Lebanese constitution, they looked up the constitution of the Swiss Federation, a globally neutral country, for inspiration
Al-Rai cited the first independence cabinet’s platform that, in 1943, stated that “Lebanon adheres to neutrality between the East and the West.” Lebanon’s neutrality was also at play during its participation in drafting the Charter of the Arab League in 1945. Lebanon contributed to making the league’s decisions non-binding, even when taken unanimously, to spare the country from going to war, should league members decide to mobilize collectively.
Al-Rai said that Lebanon’s current policies depart from its traditional foreign policy, and undermines “solidarity among Arab countries, in favor of strategies that serve (non-Arab) regimes instead of common Arab interests.”
The patriarch concluded that the “idea of neutrality was reiterated in various presidential speeches and cabinet platforms, and in every statement issued by the Dialogue Commission.” This led to the June 2012 proclamation of the Baabda Declaration, “which was approved unanimously and highlighted Lebanon’s neutrality.”
The declaration was filed with the UN as an official document of the Security Council and the General Assembly. Since 2005, and most recently with UN Secretary General Antonio Guteress, the UN has been calling on Lebanon to abide by Security Council resolutions, disband all militias, including Hezbollah, and resolve its outstanding border disputes with Israel and Syria.
In a sermon, al-Rai said that Lebanon’s founding literature is fundamental in preserving the country’s harmony between its Christians and Muslims, harmony that is premised on regional neutrality.
Hezbollah, however, has avoided commenting on al-Rai’s initiative. When its chief Hassan Nasrallah did, he said that a “neutral cabinet is a waste of time.” Nasrallah did not mention al-Rai by name, and did not seem aware that al-Rai did not call for a non-partisan cabinet, but for a neutral foreign policy. Instead, Hezbollah has been using its Maronite protégés, President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, as a fig leaf to cover its violation of one of Lebanon’s founding tenets.
In fact, Nasrallah has forced successive cabinets to mention armed “resistance,” a codename for his militia, alongside “the people and the army,” in an attempt to provide legal cover to Lebanon siding with the Iran-led axis. Ministerial platforms, however, cannot trump the constitution and the country’s founding literature. Nasrallah does not care.
In fact, Hezbollah’s own existence is premised on the idea that the Shia of southern Lebanon partook in the battle of Karbala, in south Iraq in 680, which saw the defeat and killing of the third Shia Imam, Hussein bin Ali.
In his book Nationalism, Transnationalism and Political Islam, Mohanad Hage Ali, born into a Shia Lebanese family, argues that the construction of a specifically Shia Lebanese history, in the early 20th century, suffered from the lack of any popular movements or symbols. And while “the origins of the Shia in the Levant remain a subject of controversy,” Hezbollah has endorsed a popular myth that one of Prophet Muhammad’s companions, Abu Dharr, preached the Shia faith in southern Lebanon.
Such myth “remains dubious, in spite of Hezbollah’s continued efforts at reviving it as an established fact,” Hage Ali argued. He added that “Abu Dharr clearly served the Shia clerics’ need to establish their authenticity, especially because his narrative provides them with a direct link to the Prophet.” Also among the main themes of Hezbollah’s “reconstructed history is the myth” that the Lebanon Shia fought in Karbala.
In Lebanon, it is common knowledge that the country – in its current form – was created by the French in line with the vision of the Maronite Church. The country’s name is Biblical, and so is its emblem, the cedar tree, which also serves as the symbol of the church.
But while the Maronite founders envisioned a “neutral Lebanon,” Hezbollah employed dubious legends to connect the history of Lebanese Shia to a greater regional Shia community that reaches Iran. The organizing principle of this Shia group, as imagined by Hezbollah and Iranian mullahs, is war.
By reviving Lebanon’s founding principle of neutrality, al-Rai is not only trying to restore the country’s traditional foreign policy, but also to wrestle the founding narrative from a militia that has little regard for Lebanon, its foundation or its sovereignty, and much more appreciation to combative cross-border legends and policies.

After Beirut explosion, can the international community protect Lebanese protesters?/Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya/August 27/2020
It is not a good sign when the Lebanese security forces – which are supposed to protect the Lebanese people – decide to side with the criminals against the victims. It is also not a good sign when the international community ignores the violations committed by these security institutions against unarmed protestors.
Following the Beirut port explosion, it was expected that the Lebanese people would take to streets to express anger and to call for real change.
What was not expected was that the security forces would treat protesters – in other words, the victims of the blasts – with brutality.
In its most recent Lebanon report, Human Rights Watch stated that Lebanese security forces used “excessive and at times lethal force against mostly peaceful protestors in downtown Beirut on August 8, 2020, causing hundreds of injuries.” These forces included the Parliament Police, the Internal Security Forces (ISF), the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), and “unidentified forces in civilian clothing.” The Lebanese Red Cross and the Islamic Emergency Relief Corps announced that 728 people were injured during the August 8 protest and at least 153 of them were taken to hospitals for treatment.
This is not the first time that the security forces have used brutal force against protesters. In fact, a number of similar incidents had been reported since the Lebanese took to the streets on October 17, 2019. However, the excessive use of violence is new, so is the use of live ammunition against protesters.
As the call for real political change becomes urgent, and as the international community ups its involvement in Lebanon, the use of violence has also increased.
For Lebanon’s political elite, hiding behind a government resignation – which has happened twice in the last year – is no longer a viable tactic. The governments of Saad Hariri and Hassan Diab resigned as protests broke out demanding change.
Both the Lebanese people and the international community fully understand today that change – real change – has to take place, and another government resignation won’t do it.
It has also become clear that protests are proving to be effective, especially in shaping public opinion and international media perspectives on Lebanon. That’s why we now see more brutality and violence by the authorities against protesters.
The Lebanese people have lost everything, their savings, their jobs, their homes, and their loved ones, but they are not allowed to speak up or complain. That’s what the violence on August 8 indicated.
Gunmen open fire on army in northeast Lebanon, killing soldier
However, the security forces do not have this strength and confidence without the assistance and funding from many European countries and the US government. Today, it is vital today that assistance programs are either revised or used as leverage to protect protesters. Human Rights Watch recommends that international donors such as the US, the UK, and France – who have sold or given billions of dollars in arms, equipment, and training to Lebanon’s security forces, including the Lebanese army and the ISF, should review these programs and ensure that forces involved in serious abuses against protesters should not benefit from any assistance.
When French president Emmanuel Macron visited Lebanon, followed by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, the Lebanese realized that the international community would help as long as the Lebanese help themselves. Both visits concluded with statements encouraging the Lebanese to lead their own process to achieve desirable change. Volunteers hold up placards against Lebanese politicians, as they protest during the visit of U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale to the main gathering point for NGO volunteers, near the site of last week’s explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. Hale says the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be joining Lebanese and other international investigators in the probe into the Beirut port blast that killed and wounded thousands.
However, the French and the American officials cannot expect the Lebanese people to do much, when the only tool they have – the streets – are becoming too risky and increasingly volatile. Therefore, if the French President and the US State Department believe in the Lebanese people’s ability to change, then there are tools that are available to help them shape their future. One of these tools is the leverage Europe and the US has through assistance programs to security institutions.
It is expected that Macron will visit Lebanon at the beginning of September, and David Schenker, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, will follow. One of the main messages they need to convey to political and security authorities is that violence against protesters should stop immediately, and that protesters should be able to express themselves peacefully. It is the duty of security forces to protect protesters and victims – not attack them. If this trend continues, all assistance programs need to be revisited. If protesters are allowed to go back to the streets peacefully, they might have their chance to push for change. Otherwise, Lebanon will soon become a failed state.

Aoun to Paris Match: I am determined to put an end to corruption and to continue the struggle to dismantle the corruption mafia cartel/NNA/August 27/2020
The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, assured that he absolutely does not regret being the president of the republic during these difficult circumstance, considering that the obvious thing for him is that he never evaded responsibility. “This is what I was as a soldier, up to the command of the army. I was also in my political commitment … I will not change today while I am in Baabda Palace.”
President Aoun expressed his determination to put an end to corruption through the implementation of laws, indicating that “a first and basic stage on the road to fighting corruption starts with the forensic audit in the Central Bank of Lebanon. This is important in order to discover whether there have been violations . The investigation will include all official institutions in order to determine the responsibility of each in a transparent manner, provided that all those who committed violations are held accountable.
Noting that “the corruption dilemma is endemic in Lebanon, and there is a political system that protects the corrupt and conceals their practices, It is difficult to break this solid and deep-rooted cycle, which transcends political divisions to circumvent financial interests,” he renewed his determination to continue the struggle to dismantle this mafia cartel, pointing out that none of his family members is involved in corruption. But in case there was, he will deal with any of them as he deals with others: meaning that I “will refer them to the judicial investigation in order to get the penalty deserved if it is proven. “
The President of the Republic revealed, “What is urgent today is the achievement of the total reforms that we pledged for at the CEDRE conference. He recalled, “France’s position, along with all other countries on this issue, is completely clear: There is no help without reforms. The message has arrived, and we are unanimous about accepting it, but that requires the formation of a government,” explaining that “some political parties insist on putting sticks in the wheels,” against any reform, but for my part I will continue the struggle to put reforms into practice. “
President Aoun expressed his “unspeakable pain for the victims of the Beirut bombing,” saying that “he can help heal their wounds through :
– Ensure that the investigation process is conducted with complete transparency to identify the culprits, regardless of their location or the percentage of their responsibilities that were committed during the cabinet session, before the government resigned to be tried.
Exerting all required efforts to request assistance from friendly countries to compensate for the victims. We will rebuild Beirut and its port, and I will ensure that this is done without harming the cultural heritage of the city. “
On the occasion of Lebanon’s revival of the first centenary of the declaration of the state of Greater Lebanon, the President of the Republic stressed that “his dream is to clean Lebanon of the corruption that is rotting it to the bone, and to lay the foundations for a secular state.” He said, “My dream is to establish a new social contract., living together with all sects. And if it is difficult for us to be united, then let us find a system of living together and stop digging trenches that do not contribute to our protection from each other or from ourselves.” He pointed out, “In order to strengthen the foundations of this country, the international community must help us find a solution to the issue of the massive presence of refugees and displaced persons on our land,” stressing, “It is neither natural nor ethical for the international community to allow a small country to bear a similar burden with its implication on its stability. “
The President of the Republic stressed that “Beirut has already gone through difficulties due to various reasons. However, every time, the Lebanese have succeeded in removing the traces of wars and rebuilding their capital,” stressing that “Beirut will rise again with the help of all the Lebanese, and with the support of brotherly and friendly countries, most notably with the help of France, and President Emmanuel Macron. “
President Aoun’s statements were published in an interview with the French magazine Paris Match, in its issue this morning in Paris.
Interview transcript
The following is the full text of the interview:
Q: Do you regret being the president of the Lebanese Republic?
A: Absolutely not. Some of my supporters regret that I have passed this difficult and delicate period, while others believe, on the contrary, that my presence in the presidency is an opportunity, as they trust me and my will to achieve the impossible in order to save my country. There are groups under the influence of anger, as a result of the events that took place in Lebanon, calling for my departure from power. One thing remains self-evident to me, and that is that I have never avoided responsibility. This is what I was like as a soldier, until I became the army command. I was also in my political commitment … I will not change today while I am in Baabda ( presidential) to put an end to corruption.
Q: How do you intend to put an end to rampant corruption?
A: By implementing the laws. A first and basic stage on the road to fighting corruption has started with the approval of a forensic audit at the Central Bank of Lebanon. This is an important matter in order to reveal whether violations have occurred affecting the financial situation of the state. The investigation will include all official institutions in order to determine the responsibility of each in a transparent manner, provided that all those who have committed violations are held accountable by benefiting from the state before the competent court.
International aid and reforms
Q: Has the international pressure on the provision of urgent assistance become a matter that affects Lebanon’s sovereignty?
A: I do not see all this international concern as a means of pressure or as a direct interference in Lebanese internal affairs. The countries of the world want to help us, and they provide us with guidance and advice. It remains that the final decision is for Lebanon and its people. The urgent matter for us today is to achieve the total reforms that we pledged at the CEDRE conference. We hope that the international aid will match the needs of Lebanon, allowing the process of its advancement again.
Q: Can Lebanon bypass the aid of France, the European Union, the United States, and more broadly the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank?
A: Lebanon cannot go beyond that, and is not interested in such a matter, as long as it is the one who initiated the request for the support of all of these partners. On my part, on August 9, during the International Conference on Assistance to Lebanon, which was held at the initiative of President Macron, I insisted that the administration of all aid be placed under the supervision of the United Nations, in order to ensure transparency on the one hand, and to ensure good implementation on the other hand.
Q: Do you think that this aid can be provided without carrying out reforms?
A: France’s position, along with all other countries, on this issue is completely clear: There will be no help without reforms. The message has arrived, and we agree to it, but that requires forming a government. We are under a parliamentary system, and it is up to the parliament to grant its confidence to the government, as it is its task of approving reforms. This legal path may hinder the desired path, as some political parties insist on putting sticks in the wheels in front of any goodness, but for my part I will continue the struggle to put reforms into practice.
Corruption system
Q: When President Hassan Diab submitted the resignation of his government, he declared that the state’s hands are tied before the system of corruption, is this true?
A: The corruption dilemma is persistent in Lebanon. There is a political system that protects the corrupt and conceals their practices, as it directly benefits from that. It is difficult to break this solid and deep-rooted cycle, which transcends political divisions and wraps around financial interests. Yes, it is difficult to go to the end in eliminating this system, but I am determined to continue the struggle to dismantle this mafia cartel. I have strived hard for that during the past four years in office, but I admit that I have not always succeeded because many of those who hold this system occupy key positions in the country.
Q: If it is proven that members of your family are involved in corruption matters, as some claim, are you prepared to arrest them?
A: None of my family members is involved in corruption, but if we suppose the opposite, I will deal with any of them just as I would deal with others: meaning that I will refer them to the judicial investigation in order to obtain the penalty deserved if the involvement is proven.
To victims of the explosion and investigation
Q: What would you answer the victims of the port explosion who complain about the absence of the state?
A: I fully understand their suffering as a result of this tragedy. I can only share this unspeakable pain. There is no doubt that I can help treat their wounds to some extent through two ways:
– Ensure that the investigation process is conducted with complete transparency to identify the culprits, regardless of their location or the percentage of their responsibilities, and the commitment , during the cabinet session, before the government submitted its resignation, to be tried.
Exerting all required efforts to request assistance from friendly countries to compensate for the victims. We will rebuild Beirut and its port, and I will ensure that this is done without harming the cultural heritage of the city.
Q: Did the investigation record advanced?
A: I want the investigation to reach its conclusion as quickly as possible. The disaster occurred two weeks ago, and to this day there are about 25 officials, at the port, who have been arrested. It remains that the most important thing is to determine how this quantity of ammonium nitrate got to the port, and why it remained in it from the year 2013 until the date of the explosion. Many questions are raised, and none of the hypotheses should be neglected. I personally watch over that, and I follow the details hour by hour, and I will continue to strive to find out the truth.
Any dream for Lebanon
Q: On the first of September, Lebanon will mark the centenary of the proclamation of the state of Greater Lebanon. What future do you dream of for this country?
A: My dream is to clean Lebanon of the corruption that is eating into it to the bone, and to lay the foundations for a secular state. My dream is to establish a new social contract around “living together” with all existing forces. If it is difficult for us to be united, then let us find a living system together and stop digging trenches that do not contribute to our protection from each other or from ourselves. However, in order to strengthen the foundations of this country, the international community must help us find a solution to the issue of the massive presence of refugees and displaced persons on our land. This started in 1947 with the Palestinians, then followed in 2011 with a wave of about a million and a half displaced Syrians. Today, and despite all the calls made from the highest international forums for the return of displaced Syrians to their country, which most of its areas have become safe, they are still in Lebanon. We helped them, and this is self-evident, but that was and is still beyond our capacity. It is neither natural nor ethical for the international community to allow a small country to bear a similar burden, given its implications for its stability.
Hezbollah and the Syrian war
Q: Why does Hezbollah, which participated in the Syrian war on the side of Bashar al-Assad, not negotiate in order to secure the return of these people?
A: Hezbollah is not the only one that participated in this war, as many countries participated in it. Today, everyone has become an integral part of the crisis in Syria, as well as from its solution and the issue of the return of the displaced.
Q: The street often blames Hezbollah, the majority, for not making Lebanon its priority, as a result of its association with Iran, which has become exhausted as a result of the international sanctions imposed on it and its growing military role in the region. What do you think about that?
A: If his priority was Iran instead of Lebanon, it would not have been participating in Lebanese political life, through a parliamentary bloc and through several governments, for years. Hezbollah is committed to the Lebanese laws and regulations, and it only uses its weapons as resistance to defend the country against Israel.
Q: This is wrong. The party has launched its big arms against the opposition demonstrators, and it is using its weapons to support the Syrian regime at the request of Iran …
A: No, Hezbollah did not attack the peaceful demonstrators in Beirut, and no report by the security forces indicated that. As for his participation in the war in Syria, I answered your question when I made it clear that he is not the only one.
The harshest stages of Lebanon’s history
Q: General, you have lived through all the Lebanese wars, but there has never been a time that Beirut was destroyed as it happened as a result of the port explosion. Do you think that Lebanon is today going through the harshest stage in its history?
A: Beirut has already undergone similar difficulties due to various reasons. However, each time, the Lebanese succeeded in removing all traces of wars and rebuilding their capital. And I am sure they will succeed in that again. Yes! Beirut will rise again with the help of all the Lebanese, and with the support of brotherly and friendly countries, especially with the help of France, President Emmanuel Macron. —-Presidency Press Office

President Aoun receives Foreign Minister of Canada, Director General of UNESCO/NNA/August 27/2020
The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, praised Canada’s intentions to contribute to support Lebanon and its people after the explosion that occurred in the port of Beirut, considering that this support is a new evidence of the strong relations between the two friendly countries and peoples. President Aoun welcomed the technical assistance that Canada intends to provide in the ongoing investigations into the explosion, which he affirmed that it is continuing to clarify the circumstances of the disaster that struck Lebanon, and that measures will be taken against those found responsible for this incident.
President Aoun’s statement came during his meeting this morning at Baabda Palace, with Canadian Foreign Minister Francois Philippe Champagne and the accompanying delegation, on a visit in which he conveyed the condolences of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian people for the victims of the explosion that occurred in the Beirut port on August 4. Minister Champagne expressed the Canadians’ solidarity with the friendly Lebanese people in their ordeal, placing the country’s capabilities at the disposal of Lebanon to help remove the effects of the explosion and contribute to the restoration of the affected areas and the investigation conducted by the Lebanese authorities. The Canadian minister explained that his country, which sent immediate aid to Lebanon, has raised the value of this aid to 30 million dollars and is ready to provide more if needed. He praised the role played by the Lebanese community in Canada, who stood by their brothers in Lebanon and contributed to providing aid.
President Aoun responded by welcoming Minister Champagne, stressing the strong Lebanese-Canadian relations, and the minister conveyed his greetings to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, thanking Canada for the solidarity shown with Lebanon in these difficult circumstances. He also thanked the Canadian participation in the conference in support of Beirut and the Lebanese people, which was held at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron. President Aoun pointed out that the damage is great to property, homes and in the port, and that more than 300,000 families have been displaced from their homes, noting that work is underway to prepare a directive plan for rebuilding the damaged homes, especially archaeological ones, and schools, and this requires joint efforts to repair them.
The Canadian delegation accompanying the Foreign Minister included Canada’s Ambassador to Lebanon Chantal Chastenay, Assistant Minister Sandra McCardell and Canadian Chargé d’Affairs to Lebanon Gregory Galligan, the Lebanese Foreign Minister and Expatriates Charbel Wahba, former Minister Salim Jreissati, and advisers Rafik Shalala and Osama Khashab attended. .
Canadian Minister’s statement
After the meeting, Minister Champagne told reporters:
“I thank the President of the Republic for giving me the opportunity to convey my deepest condolences, in the name of the Canadian people and on behalf of Prime Minister Trudeau, to the victims of the tragedy of the Lebanese people, in addition to the condolences of the Canadians who lost their lives at that painful moment. We talked about the future and what Canada is doing to help the people of Lebanon in the context of aid. The amount of 30 million that I provided.
I have reiterated our offer to be part of the international investigation alongside the FBI and the French police, and I believe Canada can add value to this investigation, so that it would be a credible investigation that achieves justice and is transparent. In conclusion, we discussed the issue of food security, as Canada and the Canadian people want to be part of achieving this security for the Lebanese people. “
He added, “What I told President Aoun was simple, because we want to be part of the reconstruction process and I think Canada has always stood by Lebanon, and we are not only here today, but we want to be in the long term and continue. It must be accompanied by international support and serious reform steps, and governance must be the key to the solution. Finally, I want to say that young people have said their word, and so have women as well as the street, and now we have the way ahead where we can work together. It is a privilege to be here and I want to thank you, and to the president of the republic to hear me as well. “
In response to a question, Minister Champagne said: We discussed why we want an investigation and I think the Lebanese people told us that. I discussed with the Foreign Minister the question of what and now we want to discuss how that is, and how it can allow us to go deep into things, and for us to have a credible investigation that is complete and brings the perpetrators of the crime to justice. We will continue to work on this basis, and I spoke this morning to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense to ensure that there is an understanding of the involvement of the Royal Canadian Police in the investigation and we will continue our discussion of the matter. As I said, we are very happy to contribute to this, and we did so as you work in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, but it must be according to their conditions. We will have our help and we believe in the Lebanese people and that this investigation will reach depth.
In answering a question, he explained, “During the discussion with the ministers and the president of the republic, I presented the way Canada wishes to participate in the investigation, and the details on how to do so will be determined later, but it is clear now that there are conditions about the offer I made to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the Republic, which was accepted.” Now we have to define how we can do this because we want to be loyal to the Lebanese people who expect Canada to participate in the investigation because it will be credible, transparent and go deep to achieve justice.
In response to a question about the most urgent reforms required of Lebanon, he replied: The most prominent reform required is based on the adoption of the principle of accountability, and it is natural that this passes through reforming institutions. It is also up to the young women and men of Lebanon to determine what kind of society they want to live in. What I presented to His Excellency the President is to place the Canadian institutional expertise in the judicial and other fields at the disposal of Lebanon. And this morning, for example, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs we raised the issue of raising a new generation of diplomats. This is a clear example of where Canada can make a difference. And when the IMF program is approved and the reform process launched, Canada can provide all technical assistance to achieve this. “
He added, “We are putting ourselves in the context of bringing about this change, and everyone believes that international assistance must be accompanied by serious reforms. I feel a solid will to enter into these reforms. Here Canada can make all the desired difference alongside the Lebanese people. You know that in “Cedar” conference, there was a discussion about reforming the telecommunications, water, energy and education sectors … These are all sectors in which Canada can play a positive role, especially in the field of energy, and this is what I mentioned to His Excellency the President. His Excellency welcomed this Canadian offer, and he is looking at Canada as a reliable and impartial partner, with the interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese in mind.
Director General of UNESCO
President Aoun received UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azuli, who conveyed to him the condolences of the UNESCO family for the victims of the port explosion and the organization’s preparations to support Lebanon in reforming educational institutions, schools, and archaeological and heritage buildings that were damaged by the explosion.
Azoly stressed the importance of preserving the historical heritage of the damaged homes and contributing to their reconstruction and protection , expressing a desire to cooperate with the official Lebanese institutions that will handle the issue of rebuilding the affected neighborhoods.
President Aoun responded, welcoming Mrs. Azoly, thanking her for visiting Lebanon and her solidarity with the Lebanese people, appreciating the UNESCO pledge to lead efforts to rebuild culture and heritage, coordinate the international response in this regard, and pay attention to rehabilitating damaged schools, support the education sector, coordinate efforts, and provide technical and material support to the Ministry of Education to develop distance education (Online) and ensuring the availability of technological means for all students to achieve this end in light of the Coronavirus.
President Aoun explained that the explosion was huge and resembles an earthquake and the damage was done to all sectors (health, education, food, tourism, and reconstruction) in addition to the port of Beirut and many buildings were destroyed, and 200,000 housing units were damaged, and that there are 300,000 Lebanese displaced in addition to the displaced Syrians and Palestinian refugees. He pointed out that 40% of the infrastructure in Beirut has been severely damaged and that the number of damaged archaeological buildings reached 640 (480 archaeological buildings – 160 archaeological in nature), and the number of damaged historical and cultural areas reached 8 and the cost of rebuilding the damaged 640 archaeological buildings is estimated at $286 million.
He pointed out that the number of affected educational institutions reached 120 schools, 8 universities, and 20 institutions concerned with technical and vocational education, and the number of students affected by the damage to educational institutions was about 63,000 students. As for the number of affected jobs in the educational sector (teachers – administrators), it exceeds 6 thousand. Also, a number of schools have been transferred to shelters, which may impede the start of the school year.
President Aoun stressed that there is a great need for the international community to support Lebanon, not only in the humanitarian aspect, but also in the developmental aspect, pointing out that Lebanon will not be able to rise without the support of the international community.
President Aoun thanked Mrs. Azoly for her support in establishing the “Human Academy for Encounter and Dialogue.
He said: “We count on cooperation and coordination with you and UNESCO in order to make this important initiative a success to spread the culture of dialogue and peace in Lebanon and the region, and we have allocated 100,000 square meters of land to receive this academy in Damour area.
The delegation accompanying Ms. Azuli included the United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Mr. Jan Kubic, the Director of the Office of the Director General, Mr. Nicolas Cassianides, the Assistant Ms. Azuli in the Education Sector, Stephanie Giannini, the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in the Arab Countries, and the UNESCO Representative in Lebanon Dr. Hamad bin Saif Hammami.
From the Lebanese side, former Minister Salim Jreissati, the Director General of the Presidency of the Republic Dr. Antoine Choucair, the permanent representative for Lebanon to UNESCO, Ambassador Sahar Baasiri, and the advisors Brigadier General Boulos Matar, Rafik Shalala and Osama Khashab.
Russian ambassador
Also at Baabda Palace, the Russian ambassador to Beirut Alexander Zasypkin, held a meeting with President Aoun that covered the current political developments and the position of the Russian leadership towards, in addition to issues of concern to Lebanese-Russian relations. Russian Ambassador said that his country is closely following developments in Lebanon and supports everything that enhances national unity.
Condolences and solidarity cables
On the other hand, President Aoun received more cables of solidarity and condolences for the victims of the port explosion from a number of state leaders, most notably: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Evaristo de Espirito Santo Carvalho. —-Presidency Press Office 

Qatar is back in Lebanon with vague promises of help/The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020
BEIRUT – Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani made new promises of help to the desperate Lebanese people without backing these promises with evidence or guarantees.
Meanwhile, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri brought the clock for forming a new government back to zero by announcing he had withdrawn his name from the list of candidates for the premiership, in a move observers interpreted as reflecting Saudi reluctance to back his reappointment, as well as foreclosing any prospect of cooperation with Lebanese President Michel Aoun. Meeting with Aoun was at the top of the Qatari foreign minister’s agenda during his visit to Lebanon, which reflects Beirut’s bet on Qatari and Gulf help as a whole. Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman, however, left the door just ajar for such support when he said he had no knowledge of the existence of a Qatari deposit to help Lebanon overcome its severe financial crisis.
In a press conference after meeting with Aoun, the Qatari foreign minister stressed the need for political stability in Lebanon and for “reforms to emerge from the heart of Lebanese interests, and not be the result of external pressure.”
The minister said that Qatar “affirms its solidarity with Lebanon,” noting that there are clear directives from Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani “to study projects affected by the explosion.” However, he quickly pointed out that “the details of the program have yet to be specified.”
“We are about to study the reconstruction of public schools in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the restoration of some hospitals damaged by the blast that rocked Beirut port earlier this month,” he added.
He pointed out that “Qatar had a plan to support Lebanon even before the explosion, and we have ideas that we will be discussing with the Lebanese state.”
Sheikh Muhammed, however, denied that there was a special fund for Lebanon and said that, for the moment, there were just talks “on how to support Lebanon to enable it to get out of the economic crisis, and it is certain that this support requires cooperation from all parties in the field of the legislation necessary for it, and we are still at the stage of talks, but the explosion that happened had disrupted these talks, and we look forward to resuming them.”
Despite the ambiguity surrounding Qatar’s offer of support, the Lebanese president welcomed any assistance that Doha could provide in rebuilding Beirut’s stricken neighbourhoods.
Observers said that Qatar’s vague positions reflect foreign powers’ suspicion over Lebanon’s uncertain political situation, especially regarding government formation and the ability of any new government to implement international demands that stipulate curbing Hezbollah’s influence.
As Qatar joins France and Turkey as part of a list of donor countries pledging support to Lebanon, all eyes are focused on the “reforms” that would be initiated by Lebanese authorities, particularly the composition of the next government and the extent of Hezbollah’s influence. It is precisely this dilemma that makes the formation of the next cabinet difficult to achieve; and it was one of the reasons that prompted the most prominent candidate for its presidency, Saad Hariri, to apologise and withdraw his name from the list of candidates.
Hariri announced that he would not run for the position of prime minister of the new government due to what he described as blackmailing practiced by some political forces in the country in order to maintain their grip on certain power gains. He thanked “everyone who submitted my name as a candidate to form a government that will assume this noble and difficult national task at the same time.”
He said in a statement that, like all Lebanese, he noticed that “some political forces are still in a state of severe denial about the reality of Lebanon and of the Lebanese, and they see this as just a new opportunity to practice blackmail on the basis that their only goal is to cling to weak power gains or even to realise supposed personal dreams of eventual power gains.”“Out of my firm conviction that the most important thing at this stage is preserving the opportunity for Lebanon and the Lebanese to rebuild their capital, achieve the well-known reforms that are long overdue, and open the way for friends in the international community to get involved in helping to confront the crisis and then investing in the return of economic growth, I declare that I’m not a candidate for the presidency of the new government, and I hope everyone will stop circulating my name in this regard,” he added.
Experts dismiss the notion that Hariri’s decision to withdraw is final, considering that the Future Movement leader may be using the existing international pressure on the Lebanese political class to obtain concessions from Hezbollah and President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement.The experts, however, indicate that the main reason for Hariri’s lack of enthusiasm for assuming the premiership was the absence of Saudi Arabia in an arena that is vital for Riyadh in its showdown with Iran. They point out that Saudi Arabia’s silence on the situation in Lebanon made Hariri lose the most important card that buttresses his influence and power in the event he ventures into leading a government controlled by Hezbollah and its allies. Hariri would have needed Riyadh’s full and strong support and expression of its determination to back a national Lebanese political player capable of curtailing Hezbollah’s control over the country.In addition, by refusing the premiership, Hariri eliminated all hope for any cooperation with Aoun, and therefore chose to distance himself from a government likely to walk the same political and economic paths as before and which are likely to be met with widespread protests. This is why he urged the president to call for parliamentary consultations without delay as a matter of adherence to the constitution.

Beirut Residents Determined to Save Heritage Lost to Blast/Associated Press/Naharnet/August 28/2020
For the past decade, art collector Nabil Debs has been working on turning his 19th century ancestral home in a historic neighborhood of Beirut to a hotel and art gallery. He planned to open it to the public in mid-August. Within seconds, his lifelong dream came crashing down, along with the two-story building’s stone facade and front balcony as a massive explosion tore through Beirut, shearing off facades, blasting holes in buildings, doors, stones and shattering glass across the capital.
The Aug. 4 blast resulting from nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrates igniting at the port of Beirut killed more than 180 people and wounded nearly 6,000. It also damaged thousands of buildings, including dozens of charming Ottoman and French mandate-era structures which had been among the few survivors of a years-old construction frenzy replacing traditional houses with modern buildings. They include old homes, restaurants, museums and churches.
In the streets of two Beirut historic neighborhoods, Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, workers are erecting scaffolding to support buildings that have stood for more than a century — now at risk of collapse.
Among them is the house of Debs, who says he is more determined to go ahead with his project, called Arthaus, that consists of 25 rooms. Days after the explosion, after he’d recovered from the shock and workers started renovation works. Now he plans the inauguration for mid-September.
“We have been working on this project for the last 10 years. For us it is a labor of love,” said Debs, standing in a yard between his ancestral red-brick house, which was built in 1860, and another family home built in 1780. “We love the project, we love Beirut and we love Lebanon and that’s what we are.”
The day of the blast, Debs was at the house. He stepped outside into the backyard with a friend who wanted to smoke a cigarette. They were lucky. Had they gone to the front, the whole facade would have fallen on them. They miraculously escaped without a scratch.
“It was a horror story,” Debs said.
He estimates his losses to be at least $250,000 and could reach $1.5 million, as some art pieces including sculptures were damaged.
Naji Raji, an activist and spokesman for Save Beirut Heritage, said the blast damaged more than 600 historic buildings in Beirut, of which about 40 are at risk of collapse. He said out of the 40 buildings, work has begun to support 17 of them. Raji said some estimates put the cost of renovating old buildings at about $300 million. The renovation work is being carried out by the Beirut Heritage Initiative, a coalition that includes among others the U.N. culture agency UNESCO, the French embassy and the architects syndicate, Raji said. The state is largely absent, apart from producing licenses for work.
Many of the buildings destroyed in the blast were proud holdouts. Since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990, many old buildings have been demolished and replaced by modern high rises, as speculators stepped in to make fortunes. Since the blast occurred there have been reports of middlemen scouting destroyed neighborhoods and making offers to buy old buildings.
That appears to have provoked a determination by owners to save their buildings.
A giant banner placed on a damaged historic building reads in Arabic and English: “We are staying.” Another banner hanged on a street in Gemmayzeh reads: “Our history is not for sale.” “National heritage should be protected. It is very important heritage for the identity of the country,” UNESCO’s chief Audrey Azoulay told journalists in Beirut on Thursday. She added that UNESCO launched a campaign titled “Li Beirut,” or for Beirut, and called on states, the private sector and individuals to donate money. She called for preserving the historic districts of Beirut through laws that prevent selling buildings by taking advantage of weak owners. Earlier this month, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni issued a decree preventing the sale of any historic building without permission from the Culture Ministry, a move that aims to prevent “exploitation.”
In Gemmayzeh, Aida Qazoun, 80, moved around her four-room apartment on the ground floor of a century-old three-story building as workers fixed broken windows and cemented holes in the walls.
She returned from her son’s home in the mountains, where she moved for two weeks after the blast along with her daughter who suffered an arm injury from flying glass and who also returned home. “I got married and moved into this apartment 60 years ago. I will stay here,” said Qazoun as she prepared a pot of Arabic coffee for the workers to take a rest during a hot and humid summer day.

What was behind Hezbollah’s new attack on the IDF?/Yochanan Visser/Arutz Sheva/August 28/2020
On Tuesday evening, Israel again came close to war with Hezbollah in Lebanon after terrorists fired on IDF soldiers.
On Tuesday evening, Israel again came close to war with Hezbollah in Lebanon after terrorists from the Iranian-founded and backed Shia organization shot at soldiers of the Israeli army (IDF) near Kibbutz Manara in the most northern part of the Galilee.
Initially, the IDF thought it was a new attempted infiltration and for that reason, flares were fired continuously at first to illuminate the area around Manara.
A short time later, while being in Rosh Pina less than thirty kilometers from Manara, I observed that heavy explosions had started. The blasts lasted for nearly an hour and resembled artillery shelling.
Israelis living in the area around Manara were ordered to enter their bomb shelters right at the beginning of the incident and stayed there a part of the night.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, who was on a short vacation with his family in the northern Israeli city of Safed was transferred to the IDF command center in the city where he met with Aviv Kochavi, the IDF Chief of Staff and also discussed the situation with Benny Gantz, Israel’s Defense Minister and Alternate PM.
Both Gantz and Netanyahu later released statements putting Hezbollah on guard.
“Israel views with utmost gravity the shooting at our forces by Hezbollah. We will not tolerate any aggression against our citizens and we will respond forcefully to any attack against us. I suggest that Hezbollah not try the crushing force of Israel. Hezbollah is once again endangering Lebanon with its aggression,” the statement read.
Gantz used his Twitter account to warn Hezbollah.
“We will not allow Nasrallah to hurt either our soldiers or our country. We will react severely to any incident on the border,’’ the Israeli DM wrote after explaining the incident and writing that the Israeli military had used combat helicopters and warplanes to attack Hezbollah.
It was the first time the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since the 2006 Second Lebanon War which started with the abduction of the dead bodies of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who were killed by a Cornet missile launched by Hezbollah .
Tensions in the border area between Lebanon and Israel have been raging for weeks after Hezbollah member Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad was killed in an IAF bombing near Damascus on July 20.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously threatened to avenge the death of every member of the organization in Israeli military actions and kept his word.
On July 27, a Hezbollah cell of four or five terrorists attempted to infiltrate Israel near Har Dov in the northeastern border area with Israel. The group of terrorists was discovered in time, however, and shot at by the IDF, after which the men fled back to Lebanon without any injuries.
It was later revealed that the IDF’s Northern Command had been ordered not to shoot the terrorists themselves in order to prevent war.
At the same time, Hezbollah announced that the infiltration would be followed by new actions against Israel to avenge Jawad’s death.
“The Zionists just have to wait for their crimes to be punished,” Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said after the failed infiltration.
Nasrallah was now a lot less vicious in his comments on the new action against the IDF, saying it was “an important and sensitive measure.”
“What happened yesterday in south Lebanon is an important and sensitive measure for us, but I will not comment on it. I will instead leave it until a later point in time,” the Hezbollah leader said during a speech to the people of Lebanon on the Al-Manar television station.
It could be that the Hezbollah leader was so cautious because he couldn’t elaborate on the real reason for the attack.
What the media completely missed was an event that reportedly took place on Monday in Syria’s Dara’a province south of Kuneitra on the Golan Heights.
Local Syrian media reported that an Israeli missile hit a base in western Dara’a shared by the Syrian army, Hezbollah and the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The missile hit the base but there were no further reports about deaths or injuries.
The new Hezbollah action against Israel came exactly a day after this incident, so it could be that it was a retaliation for the attack on the base in Dara’a and if Nasrallah had addressed this in his speech he would have admitted that Hezbollah is still in southwest Syria.
Israel has now filed an official complaint to the United Nations Security Council about Hezbollah’s growing aggression.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s new UN ambassador called upon the Security Council to take immediate action against Lebanon and heavily criticized the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
Erdan filed his complaint together with an aerial photo showing that Tuesday’s incident took place in an area between two UNIFIL camps. The UN peacekeeping force, however, again failed to intervene despite its mandate to guarantee that there would be no Hezbollah presence in the border area with Israel.
The United States is now in talks with the French government about expanding UNIFIL’s mandate. The peace force should have more resources to access places it has not been able to inspect until now. However, it is highly doubtful whether an extension of UNIFIL’s mandate will affect Hezbollah’s presence in the border area with Israel.
UNIFIL was expected to ensure the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 of August 2006 but has not done that so far. That resolution ended the Second Lebanon War and banned the presence of any forces other than the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL in the area south of the Litani River. The resolution also demanded “full respect for the Blue Line” the internationally recognized border between Israel and Lebanon which Hezbollah doesn’t recognize.

The French Wish List for Lebanon/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
Does Emmanuel Macron have a plan for helping Lebanon out of its current crisis? Sources close to the French president claim he does.
The plan consists of mobilizing international support for a fund to rebuild the shattered port of Beirut and upgrade the country’s ramshackle infrastructure.
In exchange, it would require a new national consensus that transcends sectarian divides without ignoring them altogether.
If you think all this amounts to little more than a wish list, you are right.
That the French president should take a special interest in Lebanon is not surprising. Leaving aside the romantic version of a past in which Lebanon is cast as a daughter of France and a bastion of Francophilia, the two countries have many objective interests in common.
France is home to an estimated 300,000 Lebanese, many of them with French nationality.
The Lebanese political, cultural and business elites treat France as their principal point of contact with the broader world. A walk in the poshest quarters of Paris takes the visitor by the luxury town-houses and apartments owned by the crème-de-la-crème of Lebanese establishment from all communities. There is also a great deal of Lebanese money in France, money that can buy political influence when needed. In addition, numerous French businesses and banks in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America use Lebanese contacts as partners, associates or fixers.
At the other end of the spectrum, Lebanon is home to over 25,000 French citizens providing a unique business, cultural and human link between the two nations.
Thus, Macron is right to treat Lebanon as a foreign policy priority worth special attention.
However, special attention alone may not provide the strategy needed to help Lebanon negotiate the current dangerous bend in its history.
The first defect of the Macron plan, as we understand it, is that it treats what Lebanon faces as a humanitarian disaster, something like a major earthquake or tsunami rather than a man-made tragedy plotted outside and executed by elements in the Lebanese political system. In other words, Lebanon’s crisis is caused by geopolitical factors with internal manifestations.
Paris policy wonks talk a lot about the need to uproot corruption that has gangrened the ruling establishment. However, corruption has always existed in Lebanese politics and, in a sense, could be regarded a way of life rather than an aberration.
Lebanese corruption comes in two forms.
The first is sectarian nepotism, a system in which the various sects or communities divide public positions and perks. Because the system is accepted by all communities it does not look like corruption from a global point of view.
However, it could be seen as corruption within each community when the powerful figures who distribute the posts and the perks discriminate in favor of their own clan within the sect. Dealing with that form of corruption becomes an intra-communal challenge, beyond the ken of outsiders.
The second form of corruption has always been linked to foreign money, used to buy allegiance and support from, or to arm, this or that sect.
What is different now is that both those two forms of corruption have been turned into instruments for advancing geopolitical goals with Iran setting the rules.
Tehran has tried to re-write the Lebanese rules of the game in two ways.
First, it has recruited, often purchased, allies not to say clients, in all communities. To be sure, Hezbollah remains Tehran’s main Trojan horse. But Iran also has baby Trojan horses in all other communities. This makes the formulation of any broad covenant among the communities, as was the case in the Taef Accords, much more difficult.
The second way in which Tehran has changed the rules of the game is to transform Hezbollah into a state-within-the-state, turning the official institutions of the Lebanese state into empty shells. Worse still, Hezbollah itself is held on an increasingly tight leash from Tehran. Those who follow the official narrative in Tehran know that the hardcore of the Islamic Republic leadership treat Hezbollah as servants rather than allies. Scrutinizing the editorials of the daily Kayhan, expressing the views of the “Supreme Guide” Ayatollah Khamenei, would let you know what Hezbollah is ordered to do on any major issue.
In other words, the Lebanese crisis has a geopolitical aspect that cannot be ignored. When we suggest that to policymakers in Paris their rebuttal is: Yes, but Iran will always be there!
I agree.
Even before the mullahs seized power in Tehran, Iran exercised some influence in Lebanon and is likely to maintain a high profile there even after the mullahs are seen off the stage. But, while Iran will always be here, it would be wrong to assume that the Islamic Republic, too, will always be there.
Contemplating the Lebanese issue today reminds one of the late 1980s when the people of East Germany launched their campaign for freedom.
At that time, too, US President George WH Bush and his French counterpart Francois Mitterrand insisted that the geopolitical dimension of the crisis be set aside so that Western powers could forge a partnership with the Soviet Union to solve “the German problem” short of reunification.
The two men even traveled to Kiev to solicit Mikhail Gorbachev’s help in dealing with the “German problem”, forgetting that the problem was caused by Soviet domination. One still remembers James Baker the Third, Bush’s secretary of state, pontificating that “Russia will always be there.” What he didn’t realize was that while Russia would always be there it was certain than the Soviet Union’s days were numbered.
At that time Baker insisted that the USSR should be part of the solution. Today, Macron’s advisers say the same thing about the Islamic Republic in connection with the” Lebanese problem.”
One key French “specialist” sneers at our suggestion that the Lebanese problem” isn’t solvable without addressing its geopolitical aspect. “No geopolitics please!” he quips. 

UNSC Draft Resolution Aims to Prevent Hezbollah’s Violations in South Lebanon/New York – Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
French negotiators at the UN Security Council exerted intense diplomatic efforts to persuade their US counterparts of a draft resolution that would “lay new foundations” for the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The French draft resolution extends the UNIFIL mission for an additional year. It comes after a long and complex debate, after which the US abandoned its demand to reduce the mandate period to six months, but succeeded in setting a timetable that practically begins on Oct. 31 to implement the recommendations of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the prevention of militants and weapons in the international force’s area of operations, in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1701. France, the penholder at the Security Council, placed the draft resolution in blue ink (to indicate that is the final version to be voted on), hoping that the voting would be held on Friday morning, New York time. However, the US requested that it be replaced by a correspondence vote in accordance with the regulations followed since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, the results would be announced 24 hours after the process.
According to information made available to Asharq Al-Awsat, “the United States asked France to introduce more amendments on two main points, one of which is related to setting an integrated timetable for the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General on preventing militants and weapons within the UNIFIL area of operations between the Blue Line and the Litani River, in a direct reference to Hezbollah.” A number of diplomats at the Security Council noted that China has fervently joined the negotiations and submitted “detailed proposals and a separate draft resolution to renew the mission of UNIFIL in agreement with the Lebanese government”, in a clear attempt to “counter the US pressure to make fundamental changes to the mandate granted to the UNIFIL under Resolution 1701.” However, France “dealt with the Chinese proposals as part of proposals made by other countries, such as Indonesia, which contributes the largest number of soldiers, or Tunisia, which was keen to introduce provisions for supporting Lebanon and the Lebanese people after the Beirut port explosions.” Representatives of several countries rejected any mention of the Lebanese government in this context, while the US refused to let China have “any final word” on the mandate of UNIFIL. Requests received from Beirut through the Lebanese mission did not succeed in introducing a reference to “the necessity of coordination with the Lebanese government. Therefore, the draft resolution has only made reference to the word “Lebanon”.” Nevertheless, Washington insisted on “clearer rhetoric regarding the timetable to prevent militants and weapons activity in the UNIFIL area of operations.” The French side also introduced a new paragraph stating that the Security Council “recognizing that UNIFIL has successfully implemented its mandate since 2006 and has allowed the maintenance of peace and security since then, decides to allow the reduction of the maximum number of forces stipulated in paragraph 11 of Resolution 1701 from 15,000 to 13,000 soldiers, without prejudice to the possibility of an increase in the number of the force in the future in the event of a deteriorating security situation… in accordance with resolutions 425, 426 and 1701.”

UN Resolution Being Voted on Would Cut Lebanon Peacekeepers/Associated Press/August 28/2020
The U.N. Security Council is voting on a resolution that would extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon for a year but reduce its troop ceiling from 15,000 to 13,000 in response to U.S. pressure.
The French-drafted resolution also makes another concession to the Trump administration and its close ally Israel. It calls on the Lebanese government to facilitate “prompt and full access” to sites requested by U.N. peacekeepers for investigation, including tunnels crossing the U.N.-drawn Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel. The draft urges freedom of movement for UNIFIL and unimpeded access to all parts of the Blue Line, and condemns “in the strongest terms” all attempts to restrict U.N. troop movements and attacks on mission personnel.
The resolution, if approved, would give the United States a symbolic victory, but it would also almost certainly be welcomed by many countries that view UNIFIL as critical to maintaining peace in the volatile region and strongly support its current mandate which is largely maintained.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to the council on July 29 recommending a 12-month renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate, stressing the importance of maintaining high troop strength.
While the resolution’s adoption would reduce the troop ceiling from 15,000 to 13,000, it would not require any cuts in the current peacekeeping force. That’s because UNIFIL’s current strength is about 10,250 troops, well below the ceiling.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 15 members of the council are voting on the resolution by email. Voting began Thursday afternoon and ends Friday afternoon. The Security Council president, Indonesia’s U.N. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, said results will be announced Friday evening.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country’s south for the first time in decades.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hizbullah, which is backed by its greatest foe Iran, of impeding the peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate, a view strongly backed by the Trump administration.
In 2019, Israel destroyed a series of what it said were attack tunnels, dug under the border by Hizbullah. The group battled Israel to a stalemate in a month-long war in 2006. Israel’s former ambassador Danny Danon said in May that Israel would insist that peacekeepers have access to all sites, that they have freedom of movement and that any time they are being blocked the Security Council must be immediately informed. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft tweeted at the time that UNIFIL has been “prevented from fulfilling its mandate” and “Hizbullah has been able to arm itself and expand operations, putting the Lebanese people at risk.” Council “must either pursue serious change to empower UNIFIL or realign its staffing and resources with tasks it can actually accomplish.”
The resolution being voted on recognizes “that UNIFIL has successfully implemented its mandate since 2006 and has allowed for maintaining peace and security since then,” and therefore the Security Council would authorize the reduction of the troop ceiling from 15,000 to 13,000.
The draft resolution states that the force strength can be increased in the future in the event of “a degraded security situation.”According to UNIFIL, it currently has about 10,250 troops including more than 9,400 ground troops and over 850 naval personnel assigned to its Maritime Task Force. In addition, the mission has about 900 civilian staff, both international and national. The draft resolution would affirm the Security Council’s “strong continuing commitment to the existing UNIFIL mandate.” And it would reaffirm the necessity that Lebanon’s armed forces deploy in southern Lebanon and its territorial water “at an accelerated pace” to implement a key mandate provision. The draft asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present the first elements of a plan to improve UNIFIL’s “efficiency and effectiveness” within 60 days. On another U.S. and Israeli issue, the resolution would reiterate the council’s call for “the rapid finalization” of investigations into all attacks against UNIFIL in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. And it would request the secretary-general “to report to the Council, within a reasonable time frame, when such incidents occur.” 

The effort to save Beirut’s heritage destroyed by port blast/Samar Kadi/The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020
BEIRUT – Enaam Khaled is a passionate photographer of traditional houses. For years, she has been documenting Beirut’s old buildings, especially those located in the historic neighbourhoods of Gemmayze and Mar Mikhail, the two worst hit areas from the seismic blast that rocked the city on August 4.
“People are calling on me to have the photos I have taken of their houses so that they can restore them to what they were,” said Khaled, who is also a founding member of Beirut Heritage, a local NGO struggling to preserve Beirut’s old buildings
“For years, I have been taking photos and collecting data of these houses which if they are lost will take away Beirut’s identity, its Levantine face and social fabric,” Khaled said. “The first day after the explosion I was in the street. I just could not believe what I saw. It was an apocalyptic scene. I could not hold back my tears. I felt my heart was shattered into pieces just like the glass windows. I could not take photos of the devastation…. That was not my Beirut,” she said. Beirut Heritage and other heritage conservationist groups have joined hands to save what is left of Beirut’s architectural heritage wrecked by decades of wars, chaotic development and the latest blast caused by the ignition of more than 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate improperly stored for years in Beirut port. The explosion created a pressure wave that ripped through the capital, killing more than 200 people and injuring about 6,000. It also damaged some 8,000 houses, leaving more than 300,000 people homeless.
Around 600 historic buildings were damaged, including many structures at risk of collapse.
The damaged buildings include old homes, museums, religious sites and cultural landmarks like Sursock Museum.
After the blast, Beirut Heritage set up a “crisis cell” of volunteer professionals, including architects, engineers and contractors, to assess the damages, secure funds and help in the restoration effort.
“We are coordinating the work with the Directorate General of Antiquities,” Khaled said. “We divided the damaged areas into zones, and each NGO was assigned to assess the damage sustained in a specific zone.”
“The majority of the buildings can be restored. They are not a total loss and as long as there is awareness and determination to preserve them they can be saved. We will not allow what happened in Solidere to be repeated in Mar Mikhail and Gemayzeh,” she added. Solidere is the company that was in charge of rebuilding Beirut’s downtown, which was ravaged by 15 years of civil war. Instead of having historic buildings that remained standing refurbished, hundreds initially designated for restoration were razed, with no laws to stop the destruction. They were replaced by high-rise towers, luxury apartments and high-end stores meant more for wealthy Gulf tourists than for locals.
Palais Sursock, a 150-year-old residence in the neighborhood of Ashrafieh, is among the architectural jewels classified by the culture ministry as part of the national heritage. Its facades were severely damaged by the blast and might collapse, the interior was totally ravaged and many of the collection pieces lost forever.“The palace is located about 500 meters away from the explosion. It definitely needs to be saved because it is a landmark of Ashrafieh and part of Beirut’s history. It lived through the Ottoman period, the French period and the civil war,” said Roderick Sursock Cochrane, whose great grandfather built the palace in 1870. “First we will be consolidating the building’s structures to make it safe again. In a later phase we will work on the interior but we will not do so until we know where Lebanon is going… And Lebanon is going nowhere unless Hezbollah disappears,” Cochrane said.
While rumours circulate about brokers preying on homeowners who cannot afford to repair their properties, conservationists now fear an onslaught of opportunistic developers ready to raze historic buildings and turn them into apartment blocks.
But Beirut Heritage and other groups have mobilised to combat unfettered redevelopment, with teams of volunteers assessing buildings’ structural integrity.
Volunteers from the Syndicate of Architects and Engineers have already consolidated the structures of 18 buildings in Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhail as a prelude to restoration with the help of contractors who volunteered material and labour.
“Volunteers have been going around reassuring owners and tenants that they will get help to repair and that they are not alone in this fight. Also, a decree was issued preventing the sale of any historic building without the permission of the Directorate General of Antiquities,” Khaled said.
Throughout history, Beirut was destroyed several times in earthquakes or wars, but its people have always been able to rebuild it,” Khaled said.
“The time of weeping and crying is over. Now it is the time for work and reconstruction. We are determined to put our city back on its feet, remove its scars and restore its beautiful face and identity,” she added.

France draws reform roadmap for Lebanon, calls on elite to act/The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020
BEIRUT – France’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Lebanon risked disappearing due to the inaction of its political elite who needed to quickly implement a new government to implement crucial reforms for the country.
“The international community will not sign a blank cheque if they (Lebanese authorities) don’t put in place the reforms. They must do it quickly… because the risk today is the disappearance of Lebanon,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio.
France has been leading diplomatic efforts for almost two years to persuade Lebanon to push through reforms and secure foreign aid needed to offset a financial meltdown. In the immediate aftermath of the August 4 blast that destroyed whole neighbourhoods, killed more than 180 people and made 250,000 homeless, President Emmanuel Macron rushed to Beirut, hoping to use the leverage of international reconstruction aid to persuade Lebanon’s factions to choose a new administration led by individuals untainted by corruption and backed by foreign donors. At certain instances, he was accused by Lebanese politicians of “overreaching.”
However, progress has been slow, with local population and foreign diplomats increasingly frustrated over the situation.
“It’s for the Lebanese authorities to assume their responsibilities. They are trained and competent, but they have made a consensus among themselves for inaction and that’s no longer possible. The president told them that when he went on Aug. 6 and will repeat it when he is in Beirut on Tuesday,” Le Drian pointed out. Macron, who will return to Beirut on September 1, is said to have prepared a roadmap for Lebanese politicians outlining political and financial reforms needed.
The two-page “concept paper” was delivered by the French ambassador to Beirut, a Lebanese political source told Reuters.
The necessary measures include an audit of the central bank, appointment of an interim government capable of enacting urgent reforms, and early legislative elections within a year.
Lebanon’s now-caretaker government, which took office in January with the support of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its allies, failed to make progress in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout due to inaction on reforms and a dispute over the size of financial losses.
The government resigned over this month’s huge Beirut port explosion that killed at least 180 people, injured some 6,000 and destroyed entire neighbourhoods, and renewed protests against a political elite over endemic corruption and mismanagement that has led to a deep financial crisis.
“The priority must go to the rapid formation of a government, to avoid a power vacuum which will leave Lebanon to sink further into the crisis,” the French paper reads.
It lists four sectors in need of immediate attention: humanitarian aid and the authorities’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic; reconstruction after the August 4 blast; political and economic reforms and an early parliamentary election.
It also called for progress in IMF talks and United Nations oversight on international humanitarian funds pledged to Lebanon in recent weeks, as well as an impartial investigation into the cause of the detonation of vast amounts of highly explosive material stored unsafely at the port for years.
Macron visited Beirut shortly after the blast and made it clear that no blank cheques would be given to the Lebanese state if it did not enact reforms against waste, graft and negligence.
Since then, he has held multiple phone calls with major political leaders under the country’s sectarian power-sharing system, a Lebanese political source said.
Political rivalries and factional interests have prevented the formation of a new government able to tackle the financial crisis that has ravaged the currency, paralysed the banking system and spread poverty.
The French concept paper stresses the need for an immediate and full audit of state finances and reform of the power sector, which bleeds public funds while failing to provide adequate electricity.
Parliament should enact laws needed to effect change in the interim period, it said. “Factions must be engaged to vote on the key measures that the new government will take in the next few months.”
The roadmap could deepen France’s role in Lebanon, analysts say. The paper states that Paris will play a major role in rebuilding Beirut port, bolster healthcare, send teams from its treasury and central bank to support the financial audit, and help organise early parliamentary voting, along with the European Union.

Security jumps to the fore with a rabbi’s murder by a Palestinian, Hizballah shooting/DEBKAFile/August 28/2020
Terrorist harassment of Israel is gaining ground on three fronts – though still short of a showdown. Is Israel holding back on deterrence? The shocking murder of Rabbi Shay Ohayon in central Israel on Wednesday, Aug. 26 by a licensed Palestinian worker jerked this question into the national consciousness, over and above concerns about the covid-19 infection spike, an economic crisis and a quarreling government. In the north, Hizballah sharpshooters fired from Lebanon on IDF troops and in the south, Hamas kept up its three-week long balloon offensive, interspersed with rocket fire.
The three occurrences are not on the face of it linked, but they do share common background factors. One is the IDF’s apparent reining in of its responses – whether over a Israel’s reluctance to be drawn into major military operations while its government battles the ungovernable covid-19 and strives to damp down its economic fallout, or possibly for fear of forfeiting thereby the huge benefits offered by the epic normalization accord signed with the United Arab Republic with US mediation.
A certain factor must be US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s current tour of the region this week in search of Arab governments willing to follow in the UAE’s footsteps and, possibly, stage a regional peace conference in time for the US presidential election. He has encountered some lukewarm responses, in step with Saudi Arabia. But Pompeo could count on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s solid support in this endeavor. And if this meant holding the IDF back from full-scale punishment for terror at this time, that, too, may be a factor.
Rabbi Ohayon, 39-year old father of four, had just stepped off a bus in central Petah Tikva when a 49-year old Palestinian from a village near Nablus stabbed him repeatedly with a big knife. Paramedics tried to revive the unconscious man before evacuating him to hospital, where doctors in the intensive unit were forced to pronounce him dead.
The rabbi was praised at his funeral on Wednesday night as a model father and husband, who combined his own studies with thrilling lectures to his students.
The Palestinian killer is among the 150,000 West Bankers licensed to work in Israel after security clearance.
The rabbi was the first Israeli to be murdered by a Palestinian in almost a year. Five weeks ago, another Israeli survived a similar stabbing attack with serious wounds. This sequence has raised questions about a revival of the former terrorist tactic of individual t murders.
The gunfire from 200m inside Lebanon was aimed at Israeli soldiers patrolling the northern border – and missed. It was attributed to Hizballah marksmen and taken as evidence that the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has not abandoned his vow of revenge for each of his men killed by Israel. He cited a fighter killed in an Israeli air strike some weeks ago against an Iranian target in Syria. But all his previous attempts to avenge his death by killing Israeli troops have failed.
The IDF struck back on Wednesday against Hizballah observation posts just inside the Lebanese border – a relatively mild response. However, the forces remain ranged in full array on high alert along the Lebanese and Syrian Golan borders, on the assumption that, despite his falling standing at home, Nasrallah will not rest until he reaches his mark. Hizballah is expected to keep on probing for a chink in IDF armor and settle accounts by causing Israeli troop casualties, although the military spokesman warned on Thursday that the army’s next response would be a lot stronger than hitting a few observation posts.. .
The IDF’s self-restraint was most striking in the first Hizballah attack. A Hizballah squad assigned with attacking the IDF outpost on Mt. Dov north of the Golan last month was sighted while still climbing the slope. The squad, scared off by Israeli tank shelling and gunfire, turned tail before reaching the outpost, dropping a marksmen’s rifle in its haste. After a quick check with superior officers who referred the incident to government officials, the outpost commanders let the Hizballah squad get away without harm or even take them prisoner. The order was to avoid a major eruption. Subsequently, on Aug. 3, a Syrian cell was shot dead trying to plant explosives for Israeli forces near the Golan border fence. They were believed to have been hired by Iran.
If Israel’s responses to aggression in the north are mixed and have little visible deterrent effect, its handling of the nagging Palestinian terrorism from Gaza is notably predictable and inadequate. Hundreds of arson and incendiary balloons are launched day after day these past three weeks. The regular IDF air and tank fire on Hamas military sites has had no effect at all, any more than the coronavirus outbreak afflicting the Gaza Strip on its balloon attacks. At one point, Hamas went so far as to add salvos of 15 rockets to the turmoil.
Wednesday saw 33 balloons floating in from Gaza to scorch mostly scrubland around Israel’s southern communities, but some also landed in the kindergarten playgrounds of local kibbutzim. Children were quickly stopped from picking them up. One carried a device containing 700 grams of explosives.
Even the Qatari emissary who arrived in Gaza with cash gifts for the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave failed to convince his hosts to halt their assaults. The terrorist chiefs simply pushed back with a fresh, longer list of demands addressed to Israel.