Israeli armored military vehicles patrol along the border with Lebanon near the northern kibbutz of Bar'am on March 15, 2023. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
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Israeli security forces said yesterday they are investigating an alleged suicide bomber’s potential link to Hezbollah, but the party denied information about the incident. According to a joint statement from the Israeli military and security forces, a man suspected of infiltrating Israeli territory from Lebanon and detonating an explosive device that wounded an Israeli citizen on Monday was shot dead after an altercation during a police stop. Speaking to L’Orient Today, spokespeople for Hezbollah and the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), respectively, said they had no further information on the incident. Israeli breaches of the Blue Line that demarcates the border between Lebanon and Israel repeatedly sparked tensions during Israeli maintenance work in the region last week. In his report on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “there has been no progress towards a permanent cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel,” adding that “unauthorized weapons outside the control of the state represents a serious and persistent violation” of the resolution.
The Justice Ministry’s committee of cases filed a complaint yesterday against Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh, his brother Raja and his former assistant Marianne Hoyek on suspicions of bribery, fraud, money laundering and embezzlement, and tax evasion. Also yesterday, Judge Charbel Abu Samra postponed a scheduled hearing with Salameh until today, after receiving permission from the Court of Cassation to allow European investigators to attend the questioning. Last month, Abu Samra scheduled the hearing for yesterday and earlier this week announced that the questioning would be devoted to answering inquiries by the foreign magistrates. Salameh’s lawyer attempted to prevent the European judges from attending in a complaint filed yesterday, which postponed the session. This is the second visit by foreign judges investigating alleged corruption by Salameh, who faces at least five European probes. The charges filed by Abu Samra last month — shortly after reports of foreign investigations threatened Lebanon with the loss of assets to litigation against the central bank chief abroad — gave momentum to a long-stalled local investigation into Salameh’s alleged embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of Banque du Liban (BDL) assets through Forry Associates, a company owned by his brother, Raja.
The Lebanese Army announced yesterday that it had arrested two brothers who allegedly belong to the Daesh (Islamic State) extremist group. The army claimed that the two men had been in contact with Daesh group leaders in Syria and had undergone training to join them, without specifying when or where the arrest took place. In November, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced it had arrested 30 people during the last four months on suspicion of belonging to the group. Earlier in November, the Lebanese Army arrested two suspected Daesh group members, one of whom had allegedly recruited and armed recruits for the terrorist organization. Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced earlier this month that in 2022 the ISF dismantled more than eight terrorist cells that were planning attacks in Lebanon and abroad. Other jihadist groups were expelled from Lebanon during an offensive by the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah in August 2017, but sleeper cells are still present in the country.
A seven-car pileup occurred yesterday morning on the Emile Lahoud highway on the outskirts of Beirut, the Traffic Management Center (TMC) announced. No injuries were recorded as a result of the collision. More than 10,000 car crashes have occurred in Lebanon since 2019, killing more than 1,350 people and causing over 13,800 injuries, according to a July study by L’Orient Today based on records obtained from the Joint Operations Room of the Traffic Management Authority. The World Health Organization expects traffic accidents to be even deadlier than the records show due to underreporting. The loss of streetlights, the increase in the number of potholes and the inability of the government to finance maintenance have all made driving conditions more dangerous, traffic safety organization YASA founder Ziad Akl told L’Orient Today.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri warned of “catastrophic repercussions” from the “prolongation of the presidential vacancy” in effect since Michel Aoun’s term in office ended on Oct. 31, while legislators have not yet been given a date for the next election session. Also yesterday, Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea reiterated his party’s demand for a president with a “sovereignist and reformist project.” Earlier this month, Berri said he would call for an election session when more parties announce their candidates for the presidency after both he and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced their support for the candidacy of Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh. Geagea responded to the pair’s announcement, saying he would refuse to facilitate Frangieh’s election. The LF repeatedly voted for then-sole contender Zgharta MP Michel Moawad against a slew of blank ballots, mostly cast by Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement and their allies. During a meeting in Paris last month, the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar reportedly broached the possibility of sanctioning Lebanese officials deemed responsible for delaying the presidential election, sources involved in the negotiations told L’Orient Today.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Is your home as earthquake-safe as possible?”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz