Spain's King Felipe VI is expected to visit Beirut next Tuesday to meet with several Lebanese officials and members of his country's contingent in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, local dailies reported.
The king will be accompanied by a high ranking ministerial delegation, said the newspapers.
Full StoryUnited Nations General Secretary chief Ban Ki-moon condemned in his latest report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 Hizbullah's attack against an Israeli military vehicle in the occupied Shebaa Farms.
Ban considered it a “serious breach for the cease fire,” warning that it could lead to a new war that the sides of the conflict cannot endure, An Nahar newspaper reported on Saturday.
Full StoryAn Israeli military unit advanced on Thursday towards al-Wazzani river on the southern border raising alert among Lebanese troops and peacekeepers, the state-run National News Agency reported.
NNA said the 20-member unit was backed by a Merkava tank for monitoring.
Full StoryIsraeli forces opened fire Monday from a border settlement at Lebanese farmers who were cultivating their land in the southern town of Maroun al-Ras.
“Israeli enemy forces opened fire from the Avivim settlement at farmers in the border town of Maroun al-Ras,” Lebanon's National News Agency reported, noting that no one was injured in the incident.
Full StoryThe spokesperson of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has said that the area of operations of peacekeepers is “stable and under control,” adding that UNIFIL enhanced its operations south of the Litani river following the latest clash between Israel and Hizbullah.
“UNIFIL's rules of engagement come in conformity with the mission's mandate which was set under Chapter 6 of the U.N. Charter,” Andrea Tenenti told As Safir daily published on Monday.
Full StoryGeneral Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim visited on Friday the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to extend his condolences over the death of a Spanish peacekeeper last week.
Ibrahim met with UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano at the mission's base in the southern town of Naqoura.
Full StoryIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon just days after a Spanish peacekeeper was killed by what Madrid said was Israeli fire.
In a telephone call with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon late on Sunday, Netanyahu charged that the U.N. force was failing to report on what Israel alleges is large-scale movement of weapons into south Lebanon by Hizbullah.
Full StoryThe European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management has said that terrorism is a common enemy with Lebanon, adding that the presence of European troops in southern Lebanon would be discussed during a meeting in Brussels.
“We have a common enemy which is terrorism,” Christos Stylianides told An Nahar daily in an interview published on Monday.
Full StoryIsraeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that a third war with Lebanon has become inevitable, stressing that Hizbullah's latest attack on the Jewish State has changed the rules of the game.
"A fourth operation in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, just as a third Lebanon war is inevitable," Lieberman told Ynet, the website of the Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth, on Sunday.
Full StoryChairman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Friday that Tehran was keen on Lebanon's stability and stressed it was up to the Lebanese rival factions to resolve the presidential impasse.
“The latest political developments in the region help consolidate stability in Lebanon,” said Boroujerdi following talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.
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