Irish soldiers, on Dec. 18, 2022 in Saida, near a vehicle carrying the remains of their compatriot who was killed in southern Lebanon. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
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The military court charged five Hezbollah members with the murder of Irish peacekeeper Sean Rooney during a deadly attack on a UN convoy on Dec. 14 in al-Aqbiya, South Lebanon, a judicial official told AFP on Thursday. The indictment states that the five suspects have been referred to the military court for trial on charges of “voluntary homicide.” Eight days after the attack, Hezbollah handed over the alleged “main shooter,” Mohammad Ayyad, a security official told AFP. Ayyad is the only suspect in custody. In January, seven people were charged with “making threats with an illegal weapon, destroying [a] UNIFIL vehicle and intimidating its passengers.”
Relatives of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port blast victims protested outside the Beirut Justice Palace yesterday, saying they were ready to hold weekly sit-ins to oppose the paralysis of the investigation. The demonstrators burned tires outside the Justice Palace and threatened to escalate their protests. William Noun, brother of Joe, a firefighter killed in the blast, said the protest aimed to determine the legality of lead investigating judge Tarek Bitar’s actions. The port blast probe remains suspended after Lebanon’s top prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, stopped an attempt by Bitar to relaunch it in January. Oueidat, who was among the new suspects, also sued Bitar for attempting to relaunch the probe while rulings have not been issued on complaints filed against him.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he would schedule a parliamentary session to select a president “if at least two serious candidates are announced for the presidency.” The same day, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai said he would respond to a request by France and the Vatican with a series of meetings with “everyone without exception, even Hezbollah.” Berri last month called for the election of a president by June 15, but no voting sessions have been scheduled since the 11th attempt to elect a president in January. On Wednesday, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said that the Free Patriotic Movement joined his party and their allies in supporting the candidacy of former Finance Minister and International Monetary Fund senior official Jihad Azour. In the election sessions held to date, the LF and its allies backed Zgharta MP Michel Moawad, while the FPM cast blank votes along with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. In March, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement announced their support for Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh, whom the FPM refused to support.
Funding will be transferred between today and next week to refuel depleted stations operated by state telecom provider Ogero, sources at Ogero and the Finance Ministry told L’Orient Today. Network outages spread across Lebanon yesterday as fuel shortages forced several stations to shut down. A senior Ogero official told L’Orient Today that half the necessary funds were scheduled to be transferred yesterday and that the rest would be sent by next week. The same source yesterday warned that if Ogero stations are not replenished, outages could extend to a complete telecom shutdown. The funding also reportedly covers unpaid dues owed to Ogero employees, who held a strike demanding improved compensation on Wednesday and said they would hold similar protests next Tuesday and Thursday.
The Lebanese Army was on “maximum alert” yesterday in response to an attempt by the Israeli army to forcibly remove a tent stationed along the southern border in the Bastra-Shebaa Farms area, the state-run National News Agency reported. The Lebanese Army and the Israeli patrol, as quoted by UNIFIL, both claimed that the tent was within their borders. Israeli construction works near the border and alleged breaches have repeatedly sparked tension over the past several months.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “What can we expect after 5 Hezbollah members were charged with the murder of a UN peacekeeper?”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz