Arab League chief to attend China-Arab Cooperation Forum in Beijing

KORBOUS, Tunisia: With a Mediterranean coastline, natural thermal springs, clement weather and affordability, Tunisia has become the world’s second-largest destination for seawater-based treatments known as thalassotherapy.
Now, it is setting its sights on overtaking France to claim the top spot.
“The main advantage of Tunisia is its coast and thalassotherapy,” compared with neighboring countries, said Mario Paolo, an Italian, at the Korbous thermal spa, perched on a hill an hour’s drive from the capital, Tunis.

A 78-year-old retiree who has lived in Tunisia for the past five years, Paolo said he frequently visits Tunisian thalassotherapy centers “to get back in shape.”
“Enjoying sea water and natural springs is not just leisure but also a therapy,” Paolo said after a thyme and rosemary oil massage.
Korbous, a coastal town on the Cap Bon peninsula, has historically been one of Tunisia’s hot spots for the therapy, which uses sea water and other marine resources.
Thalassotherapy is an “ancestral heritage” for Tunisians, “since hydrotherapy has existed in Tunisia since antiquity, at the time of the Carthaginians and the Romans,” Shahnez Guizani, the head of the National Office of Thermalism (ONTH), told AFP.

Other popular thalassotherapy destinations in the country include Sousse, Hammamet, Monastir, and Djerba, which Tunisian news agency TAP said was named the Mediterranean thalassotherapy capital in 2014 by the World Federation of Hydrotherapy and Climatotherapy.
Rouaa Machat, 22, said she traveled from France to Korbous for a three-day wellness retreat.
“I’m here to enjoy the types of water this beautiful town offers,” she said, referring to the use of seawater, spring water, and desalinated water for therapy.
“But I am also here for this,” she added, grinning and pointing to the Korbous sea and mountains.

Customers mainly come for the quality of spring water, said Raja Haddad, a doctor who heads the thalassotherapy center at the Royal Tulip Korbous Bay hotel.
Today, Tunisia boasts 60 thalassotherapy centers and 390 spas, 84 percent of which are located in hotels, according to the ONTH.
Tourism accounts for seven percent of the country’s GDP and provides nearly half a million jobs, according to official figures.
The sector has seen a decade of setbacks due to terrorist attacks and later the COVID-19 pandemic.

But it has been recovering again as the number of foreign visitors exceeded 10 million last year — a record for the country of 12 million people.

Guizani said thalassotherapy on its own draws about 1.2 million foreign visitors a year, with “70 percent coming from Europe, including 40 percent from France.”
The industry generates approximately 200 million dinars ($63 million, 60 million euros) per year, she added.
That compares with a French thalassotherapy market valued at around 100 million euros last year, according to market research firm Businesscoot.
At a luxury hotel near Monastir, a thalassotherapy center buzzes with customers despite the cold winter season.
Visitors have come from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, among other countries.
“As soon as you arrive, you find palm trees and the sun,” said Monique Dicrocco, a 65-year-old French tourist. “It’s pure happiness, and it’s also worth your money.”
“Here the therapy is much cheaper than in France, with 1,000 euros a week all inclusive instead of 3,000,” she added.
Jean-Pierre Ferrante, 64, from Cannes, said he found “the quality of the water and the facilities just as good as in France.”
Kaouther Meddeb, head of the thalassotherapy and spa center at the Royal Elyssa Hotel in Monastir, said the number of clients has been growing lately.
Yet despite meeting international standards, the sector remains underappreciated in Tunisia, she said.
“There’s a lack of communication and promotion,” she added.
Experts say more investment is needed in infrastructure. This includes road improvements and air services, they say, as there are few low-cost flights.
But plans are already underway to develop eco-friendly thermal resorts in regions like Beni M’tir, a mountainous village in the northwest, and near Lake Ichkeul south of Bizerte, said Guizani.
“With all the advantages it has, Tunisia is poised to become the world leader in thalassotherapy,” she added.
 

BEIRUT: Security authorities at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport effectively fulfill their responsibilities, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Monday.

Mawlawi’s assurance followed his meeting with the Central Security Council.

In response to Israeli claims that Hezbollah was receiving cash through the airport, Mawlawi emphasized that the council had set up new checkpoints to inspect all items entering through the airport.

He stressed that the Lebanese army was fulfilling its duties to control the Lebanese border with the Syrian Arab Republic “despite the challenges” and urged increased cooperation from Syrian authorities.

Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday that it had seized shipments of weapons intended for smuggling into Lebanon through land routes in the Talkalakh area of Homs.

On Jan. 26, Syrian security forces reportedly discovered a missile depot at a former regime site in Homs. They also seized a weapon shipment that was “intended for Hezbollah.”

There are six official border crossings between the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon and numerous illegal crossings along a 375-km border.

On Monday, the Israeli army said that it was continuing its “defensive operations” in southern Lebanon, under agreements with Lebanon, to maintain the operational gains in the region.

Recently, the Israeli army said it conducted extensive operations to eliminate threats in the region, “dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure, and prevent any potential dangers to Israel and its citizens.”

The announcement came a day after Defense Minister Israel Katz toured Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces continue to violate the ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah was extended at Israel’s request through US mediation until Feb. 18.

Israel is exerting pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and eliminate its military presence south of the Litani line. Israeli threats to disarm Hezbollah extend beyond this region to areas north of the Litani and even to the Lebanese border with Syria.

Since the ceasefire began, Israeli airstrikes have repeatedly targeted vehicles transporting weapons and ammunition, as well as storage facilities for stockpiling arms.

In its statement, the Israeli army clarified that during a survey operation in the border area, troops from the 769th Brigade discovered weapons storage facilities. These facilities contained mortar shells, rockets, explosives, firearms, and a significant amount of military equipment. All the weapons were confiscated, and the storage sites were dismantled.

The statement indicated that Israeli soldiers “eliminated several Hezbollah members in the area and apprehended suspects who posed a threat to Israeli forces.”

The Israeli army announced it was conducting a military exercise on Monday in the Upper Galilee region, which has remained in a state of tension following months of military operations against Hezbollah.

The Israeli army issued a warning against civilian entry into areas expected to see “increased military activity.”

Israeli media reports indicate that residents of northern settlements in Israel have begun repairing their homes after damage caused by “fire from Hezbollah.”

The Israeli military has withdrawn from the western region of southern Lebanon and from certain villages in the central area while still maintaining its presence in other towns.

At the same time, it is engaged in bulldozing and demolition activities in the eastern sector, where it has not retreated from any villages.

It seems likely that the military will continue to occupy strategic positions in southern Lebanon.

Former MP Mustafa Alloush stated that Israel’s release of information about the significance of maintaining control over strategic heights and five key points overlooking the southern territories, as well as a substantial portion of occupied Palestine, was quite plausible.

He stated that Hezbollah was giving Israel reasons to justify its actions, evident both in the deployment of drones and in the group’s insistence on maintaining resistance without disarming.

Additionally, remarks from Hezbollah’s leadership, including statements made by its secretary-general, ministers, and MPs, emphasized that the resistance was regaining its strength and readiness.

Alloush claimed that Israel was leveraging this situation to conduct its daily airstrikes, which have targeted areas from Nabatieh and the Bekaa to northern Lebanon.

The Israeli army still holds El-Hamames Hill, located at the southwestern entrance to the town of Khiam.

This strategic hill overlooks the entire town of Khiam and the Hasbaya region, all the way to Ebel Al-Saqi.

It also holds the strategic Awida Hill, between Adaisseh and Taybeh, in the Marjeyoun district.

It overlooks the entire western sector up to Tyre and the whole central sector up to the Litani River and the western Bekaa from the direction of Jezzine.

The Israeli army also holds the hill of Khallet Wardeh, a strategic point located southwest of the town of Aita Al-Shaab in the Bint Jbeil district and overlooking the southern coast from Tyre to Naqoura and the western sector up to Tayr Harfa and Al-Jbein.

Israeli forces are still penetrating the strategic Shebaa and Kfar Shuba hills, which overlook the entire Arqoub region and the western Bekaa to the north, Hasbaya and Marjeyoun to the west, and Mount Hermon and Syrian lands to the west.