Senior Envoy Hochstein Arrives in Beirut, Potential Maritime Border Compromise On the Way Senior Advisor for Energy Security Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut today, at the invitation of the government of Lebanon. According to Reuters, “three Lebanese officials with knowledge of the internal process to finalise a government stance said that Lebanon would drop claims to Line 29. The sources said President Michel Aoun would meet Hochstein on Tuesday morning and propose ‘Line 23, plus a little more’.” [Reuters]
Israeli Chief of Staff on Border Tensions: Threat of ‘Unprecedented’ Force According to L’Orient Today, “Every target associated with rockets and missiles will be targeted in the next war,’ the chief of staff of the Israeli army, Aviv Kochavi, reportedly said Sunday as he detailed the Israeli army’s intentions in a future war with Lebanon in a speech delivered as part of a conference in Israel, according to reports in the local media . . . Threatening Lebanese civilians directly, he said ‘I advise you to leave [the area of hostilities], not only at the beginning of the war, but from the beginning of tension and before the first bullet is fired … because the force of the attack will be unprecedented’.” [L’Orient Today]
General Joseph Aoun: LAF Stands Behind Political Authority on Border File In public remarks, the Commander in Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Joseph Aoun, affirmed that the LAF, “stands behind the political authority in any decision it may take in the sea border demarcation file . . . We do not interfere in political affairs at all . . . The army has openly announced its stance following the end of its technical mission, and it stands behind the political authority in any decision it may take in the sea border demarcation file . . . We’re not concerned with any comments, analyses or stances, be them political or journalistic, and the official stance exclusively comes from the Army Command. Any other opinion does not reflect the army’s stance.” [Naharnet]
UNIFIL Condemns Aggression Against Its Soldiers in Southern Lebanon As outlined in remarks from the spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Andrea Tenenti, UNIFIL called on, “the Lebanese Army to guarantee the safety, security and freedom of movement of [UNIFIL] forces.” These remarks followed reports of an incident that occurred near the town of Arab Al-Louaizeh in which a routine patrol of UNIFIL servicemen was stopped by a ‘plainclothes group’ attempting to take their weapons. [L’Orient Today]
OPINION & ANALYSIS
Addressing The Way Forward In Lebanon
Jean AbiNader
AbiNader writes, “the appointment of a resident IMF representative to advise on Lebanon’s financial recovery and report directly to the IMF Board, and the restart of the Central Bank audit and subsequent lifting of several banking secrecy laws only add to the speculation surrounding the future of the Central Bank. It currently answers to no one, as its internal monitoring and governance responsibilities actually lie in-house, with only sporadic reporting required or offered. It is precisely this concern for the lack of accountability that several of the new members of parliament (MPs) are seeking to change. The standard Parliamentary procedures of nominating and selecting committee members exposed flaws in the system, namely secret ballots for the committee positions. The voting process also exposed the lack of a unified, or at least coordinated, strategy for nominating seats by the new group of independents who have yet to present some structure and definition to their political aims amid the multiplicity of campaign issues.”
Reuters Back To The Land: Lebanese Family Turns To Farming To Survive Crises Maya Gebeily and Aziz Taher
Gebeily and Taher write, “In a remote village in southern Lebanon, Qassem Shreim crouched low to examine his wheat crop. Food costs have soared amid a global wheat crisis and Lebanon’s own economic meltdown, but the builder-turned-farmer feels shielded by his self-sufficiency. Like many families in crisis-plagued Lebanon, Shreim turned to farming after the local pound began to slip in 2019, making his construction work scarce and his grocery runs ever more costly.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a non-profit, nonpartisan leadership organization of Lebanese-Americans.
