President Aoun discusses Lebanese diaspora in UAE with Ambassador Dandan
President Joseph Aoun met with Lebanon's Ambassador to the UAE, Fouad Dandan, at the Baabda Palace to discuss the situation of the Lebanese diaspora in the United Arab Emirates and bilateral relations between the two countries.
According to LBCI, President Aoun assured Dandan that Lebanon's security would be stable.
He emphasized his commitment to enforcing the law and ensuring security, which would help encourage Emiratis to return to their second home, Lebanon.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
3 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Hezbollah says Dahieh strike damaged dozens of buildings as Paris condemns attack
by Naharnet Newsdesk 07 June 2025, 11:59 Health Minister Rakan Nassereldine said several people were wounded by flying glass during Israel's latest bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs. AFP photographers on Friday saw huge destruction as residents, some wearing masks, inspected the debris and damage to their homes. A Hezbollah statement said a preliminary assessment showed nine buildings were completely destroyed and dozens of others damaged. A woman in her 40s who lives near one of the strike sites said she fled on foot with her young children including a three-month-old baby. "Thank God" the building was not destroyed, she told AFP after returning Friday morning to find the windows of her flat shattered. South Beirut resident Fatima, 40, said "life goes on", adding that she and her two children were following the usual Eid traditions after fleeing the previous night. France, part of a committee overseeing the ceasefire, condemned the strikes and urged all parties to respect the truce, noting that the monitoring mechanism "is there to help the parties deal with threats and prevent any escalation." The French foreign ministry statement noted that "dismantling unauthorized military sites... falls as a priority to the Lebanese" Army with the support of United Nations peacekeepers. Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar on Friday urged "all Lebanese political forces... to translate their statements of condemnation into concrete action," including diplomatic pressure. Thursday's attacks on what the Israeli military said were underground Hezbollah drone factories came after an Israeli evacuation call on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a key Muslim religious festival, and sent huge numbers of residents of Beirut's southern suburbs fleeing. It was the fourth and heaviest Israeli bombardment of the heavily populated area, known as a bastion of support for Hezbollah, in the six months since a ceasefire deal aimed at ending hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. The last attack was in late April. The September-November war left Hezbollah massively weakened, with top commanders including longtime leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah killed and weapons caches incinerated. Under the ceasefire, Lebanon should disarm Hezbollah, once reputed to be more heavily armed than the state. Lebanon's army, which has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure under the truce, said the Israeli military's ongoing violations and "refusal to cooperate" with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism "could prompt the (Lebanese) military to freeze cooperation" on site inspections. The Israeli military had said Hezbollah was "operating to increase production of UAVs (drones) for the next war" in "blatant violation" of the truce understandings. Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border. Israel was to withdraw troops from Lebanon but has kept them in five areas it deems "strategic" and still launches regular strikes on south Lebanon.
Nahar Net
3 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Lebanon aims to lure back wealthy Gulf tourists to jumpstart its war-torn economy
by Naharnet Newsdesk 07 June 2025, 12:08 Fireworks lit up the night sky over Beirut's famous St. Georges Hotel as hit songs from the 1960s and 70s filled the air in a courtyard overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The retro-themed event was hosted last month by Lebanon's Tourism Ministry to promote the upcoming summer season and perhaps recapture some of the good vibes from an era viewed as a golden one for the country. In the years before a civil war began in 1975, Lebanon was the go-to destination for wealthy tourists from neighboring Gulf countries seeking beaches in summer, snow-capped mountains in winter and urban nightlife year-round. In the decade after the war, tourists from Gulf countries – and crucially, Saudi Arabia – came back, and so did Lebanon's economy. But by the early 2000s, as the Iran-backed Hezbollah gained power, Lebanon's relations with Gulf countries began to sour. Tourism gradually dried up, starving its economy of billions of dollars in annual spending. Now, after last year's bruising war with Israel, Hezbollah is much weaker and Lebanon's new political leaders sense an opportunity to revitalize the economy once again with help from wealthy neighbors. They aim to disarm Hezbollah and rekindle ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which in recent years have prohibited their citizens from visiting Lebanon or importing its products. "Tourism is a big catalyst, and so it's very important that the bans get lifted," said Laura Khazen Lahoud, the country's tourism minister. On the highway leading to the Beirut airport, once-ubiquitous banners touting Hezbollah's leadership have been replaced with commercial billboards and posters that read "a new era for Lebanon." In the center of Beirut, and especially in neighborhoods that hope to attract tourists, political posters are coming down, and police and army patrols are on the rise. There are signs of thawing relations with some Gulf neighbors. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lifted yearslong travel bans. All eyes are now on Saudi Arabia, a regional political and economic powerhouse, to see if it will follow suit, according to Lahoud and other Lebanese officials. A key sticking point is security, these officials say. Although a ceasefire with Israel has been in place since November, near-daily airstrikes have continued in southern and eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah over the years had built its political base and powerful military arsenal. As vital as tourism is — it accounted for almost 20% of Lebanon's economy before it tanked in 2019 — the country's leaders say it is just one piece of a larger puzzle they are trying to put back together. Lebanon's agricultural and industrial sectors are in shambles, suffering a major blow in 2021, when Saudi Arabia banned their exports after accusing Hezbollah of smuggling drugs into Riyadh. Years of economic dysfunction have left the country's once-thriving middle class in a state of desperation. The World Bank says poverty nearly tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, affecting close to half its population of nearly 6 million. To make matters worse, inflation is soaring, with the Lebanese pound losing 90% of its value, and many families lost their savings when banks collapsed. Tourism is seen by Lebanon's leaders as the best way to kickstart the reconciliation needed with Gulf countries -- and only then can they move on to exports and other economic growth opportunities. "It's the thing that makes most sense, because that's all Lebanon can sell now," said Sami Zoughaib, research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think tank. With summer still weeks away, flights to Lebanon are already packed with expats and locals from countries that overturned their travel bans, and hotels say bookings have been brisk. At the event hosted last month by the tourism ministry, the owner of the St. Georges Hotel, Fady El-Khoury, beamed. The hotel, owned by his father in its heyday, has acutely felt Lebanon's ups and downs over the decades, closing and reopening multiple times because of wars. "I have a feeling that the country is coming back after 50 years," he said. On a recent weekend, as people crammed the beaches of the northern city of Batroun, and jet skis whizzed along the Mediterranean, local business people sounded optimistic that the country was on the right path. "We are happy, and everyone here is happy," said Jad Nasr, co-owner of a private beach club. "After years of being boycotted by the Arabs and our brothers in the Gulf, we expect this year for us to always be full." Still, tourism is not a panacea for Lebanon's economy, which for decades has suffered from rampant corruption and waste. Lebanon has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for years over a recovery plan that would include billions in loans and require the country to combat corruption, restructure its banks, and bring improvements to a range of public services, including electricity and water. Without those and other reforms, Lebanon's wealthy neighbors will lack confidence to invest there, experts said. A tourism boom alone would serve as a "morphine shot that would only temporarily ease the pain" rather than stop the deepening poverty in Lebanon, Zoughaib said. The tourism minister, Lahoud, agreed, saying a long-term process has only just begun. "But we're talking about subjects we never talked about before," she said. "And I think the whole country has realized that war doesn't serve anyone, and that we really need our economy to be back and flourish again."
LBCI
13 hours ago
- LBCI
Israel directly warns Lebanese president as tensions soar after Beirut strikes
Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi Israel has escalated its threats against Lebanon following airstrikes that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs, with Security Minister Israel Katz issuing a direct warning to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, vowing continued attacks and accusing the Lebanese Army of conducting "coordinated displays." Katz reiterated longstanding Israeli claims that Hezbollah is boosting its military capabilities with the Lebanese state's approval, specifically alleging that drone production is underway in residential areas, posing a threat to northern Israeli communities. Israeli security officials and military analysts defended the strikes on Beirut's suburbs, describing them as a "necessary step." The attack has sharpened the divide in Israel over the legitimacy and strategic wisdom of expanding military operations into the Lebanese capital and other regions. The airstrikes followed Israeli military assessments suggesting Hezbollah is preparing for an escalation, with expectations that Lebanon might retaliate. In response, Israel deployed additional air defense systems in the north and announced that its armed forces are fully prepared for a range of scenarios, including extensive defensive measures. Amid growing security concerns, some Israeli officials have expressed skepticism toward the intelligence behind the latest attacks. Doubts over whether Hezbollah is indeed rebuilding its arsenal have led to calls for Israel to submit its intelligence reports to international monitors tasked with overseeing the ceasefire agreement between the two sides. Using Lebanon's alleged failure to uphold the ceasefire agreement as justification, the Israeli military is reportedly considering intensifying its deployment along the northern border, expanding surveillance and reconnaissance operations, and threatening further strikes for every intelligence report suggesting Lebanese violations.
