Ministerial consultative meeting in the Grand Serail on Apr. 15. (Credit: courtesy of Michel Hallak)
BEIRUT — A ministerial "consultative meeting" is currently ongoing at the Grand Serail to discuss the current developments on the regional and domestic levels after the Iranian strikes on Israel, according to state-run National News Agency (NNA). The issue of Syrian migrants is also expected to be discussed during the meeting.
The meeting was first supposed to be a cabinet meeting but caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati decided to call for a consultative meeting instead to ensure the presence of as many ministers as possible, as ministers close to Gebran Bassil's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) continue to boycott cabinet meetings in the absence of a president.
According to NNA, some FPM ministers attended the consultative meeting on Monday, including Justice Minister Henri Khoury, Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar and Tourism Minister Walid Nassar. These three ministers usually boycott the cabinet meetings.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in daily skirmishes at the Lebanese-Israeli border since Oct. 8, the day after the beginning of the Hamas-Israel war.
Monday's meeting comes following Iran's launch of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday. The Iranian attack was in retaliation to an Israeli airstrike that targeted an annex of the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
During the meeting, Mikati talked about the skirmishes at the Lebanese-Israeli border, saying that "the Israeli aggressions cannot be tolerated and that the violation of Lebanese airspace can not be tolerated."
"Israel is dragging the region into war, and the international community must take note of this and put an end to this war," he added.
"Through the contacts we are making, we realize that Lebanon has friends in the world who defend it and make every effort to pressure Israel to stop its aggression and prevent the escalation of confrontations."
He also talked about the Syrian migrant issue: "With the proliferation of crimes committed by some displaced Syrians, it is imperative to address this situation firmly by the security services, and to take urgent measures to prevent any criminal act and prevent any behavior that is fundamentally unacceptable to the Syrian brothers who are legally present and forcibly displaced."
Lebanon hosts more than an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees who fled since 2011, according to Human Rights Watch making it the country with the highest population of refugees per capita in the world amid an unprecedented economic crisis facing the country.
The murder of LF executive Pascal Sleiman around one week ago has raised tensions in Lebanon, with an upsurge in verbal and physical violence against Syrian nationals and their representatives.
Mikati called the Minister of Interior to strictly "enforce Lebanese laws on all refugees and deal with cases that violate these laws."
During the meeting, the Lebanese foreign ministry and several ministers commented on the two main topics, the tensions in southern Lebanon and Syrian migrants. Here is what they said:
Regional tensions and situation in southern Lebanon
• The Information Minister Ziad Makari said that the ministers who attended the meeting proposed the creation of a committee that would "develop a methodology for surveying damage and identifying needs [in southern Lebanon], as well as presenting proposals for funding the reconstruction process. "
• In addition to these comments, the Lebanese foreign minister released a statement on law."
"The ministry ... is following with great concern the recent events and developments in the Middle East, as the entire region has reached the brink of an abyss", reads the statement.
Syrian migrants
• Makari said that the meeting discussed the way to categorize Syrian migrants (legal/illegal).
He added that a proposal was presented that consists of applying "Lebanese laws to all without taking into account the current job of the migrant." He also said that the meeting addressed the "overcrowding in prisons and the possibility of deporting Syrians from them in accordance with the laws and regulations in force."
• According to local media outlets, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said, during the meeting, that 1.2 million out of two million displaced Syrians "are unregistered." Mawlawi added that 800,000 are registered and that only 300,000 Syrian migrants have residency.
• Youth and Sports Minister George Kallas commented on the European Union's criteria for safe zones in Syria, saying that the "international community should know that safe zones in Lebanon are threatened by the illegal Syrian displacement," according to NNA.