UN rejects ‘annexation’ proposals for Palestinian territories

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed hope that “the upcoming extraordinary Arab Summit, scheduled to be held next week in Cairo, would yield a unified Arab position to address the region’s current challenges, especially since it targets the joint interests of the brotherly Arab countries.”

Aoun received on Wednesday Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi, who was accompanied by a diplomatic delegation.

He said that “amid the developments in southern Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, the challenges are significant and ongoing and require a unified Arab stance to face them.”

He added: “The presence of a unified (front) is enough to strengthen the Arab stance and allow it to impact the sequence of events.”

Aoun thanked Oman for “the assistance provided to Lebanon, including medicines, medical support, organizing training courses, and offering university scholarships.”

He also hoped that “the Omani airline would resume flights to Lebanon as soon as possible.”

The Omani minister conveyed Sultan Haitham bin Tariq’s greetings to Aoun “on his election as president” and highlighted “the strong relations between Lebanon and Oman.”

He also extended to Aoun “an official invitation to visit Oman and discuss ways to develop and activate bilateral relations in the interest of the two brotherly countries.”

Al-Busaidi said: “This visit proves that the sultan puts Lebanon as a priority and emphasizes the solidarity of the Omani people with the brotherly Lebanese people.”

He affirmed that “Oman is looking into activating the work of the joint committee between the two countries, signing agreements and memoranda of understanding, and exchanging delegations, especially cultural and economic ones.”

Meanwhile, discussion sessions on the ministerial statement of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government resumed in parliament. MPs are expected to give a vote of confidence to the government by a significant majority.

MP Ibrahim Mneimneh called for “opening the books to examine the reasons behind the losses and who benefited from them. The rule of accountability is the only standard capable of addressing the crisis.”

MP Ghassan Skaff said the government is required to function as a “foundational body” during a transitional period. “While we understand that the government’s term may not allow it to accomplish all that was outlined in its ministerial statement, it is imperative that we begin the challenging journey ahead,” he added.

MP Wael Abu Faour called for “the lifting of immunities, the liberation of the judiciary from political influence, sectarianism, and corruption, as well as a reevaluation of the Supreme Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers.”

MP Halima Kaakour said she hopes that the ministerial statement does not “cater to certain influential parties and interests,” while MP Adib Abdel Massih hopes that it includes “an economic vision to raise the GDP.”

Herve Magro, French ambassador to Lebanon, conveyed to Yassine Jaber, Lebanon’s finance minister, the readiness of his country to provide unwavering technical and political support to the government and its reform approach.

According to the finance minister’s office, Magro discussed with Jaber “the reform steps adopted by the ministry and the support projects existing between the ministry and the Agence Francaise de Developpement in the context of preparing the 2026 budget.”

The French diplomat revealed “the interest and intention of French President Emmanuel Macron to help establish a fund to support the reconstruction process, especially since Lebanon has declared its determination to show transparency in its reforms.”

Meanwhile, Israeli reconnaissance planes flew intensively over Beirut and its suburbs throughout the day.

Israeli airstrikes were carried out before noon on Jabal Al-Rayhan in the Jezzine district. The warplanes carried out mock raids over the villages and towns of Tyre district and the border villages.

On Tuesday night, Israeli airstrikes targeted the town of Janta in the Baalbek district, “killing two people and injuring three others,” according to the Ministry of Health.

The victims were traveling in a transport vehicle in Shaara in the Janta region when they were targeted by an Israeli drone. This is a border area where illegal crossings abound.

CAIRO: The United Nations’ food agency says it has temporarily paused aid distribution in Sudan’s famine-hit Zamzam displacement camp of a half-million people as fighting intensifies between the country’s warring sides, and it warns that thousands could now starve.
The World Food Program said Wednesday that fighting in the past two weeks between the military and a paramilitary group in Sudan’s civil war has forced its partners to leave the camp in western Darfur for safety.
“Without immediate assistance, thousands of desperate families in Zamzam could starve in the coming weeks,” said the agency’s regional director, Laurent Bukera.
Bukera urged the warring sides to stop fighting and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. “We must resume the delivery of life-saving aid in and around Zamzam safely, quickly and at scale,” she said.
WFP has been feeding about 300,000 camp residents, but it and partners reached only 60,000 people this month amid intensified shelling. One attack destroyed the camp’s central open market, pushing residents farther from essential food and supplies, the agency said.
Earlier this week, the Doctors Without Borders medical charity said it paused its operations, including its field hospital, in the camp due to intensified attacks.
Famine was announced in the Zamzam camp in August and spread to two other camps for displaced people in Darfur and the Western Nuba Mountains.
The camp is 12 kilometers (6.5 miles) south of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, or RSF, has been trying for months to take.
The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese military since April 2023. The conflict has been marked by atrocities including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to the UN and rights groups. The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Aid groups have made pleas for access for months in Zamzam and elsewhere, with little success. The UN’s top humanitarian official in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, has accused the RSF of preventing life-saving aid from reaching many in Darfur. The RSF and allied militias control most of that region.