Latest news with #LebaneseArmedForces
LBCI
3 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
UN Coordinator warns Lebanon's window for reform won't stay open indefinitely
While briefing the U.N. Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 1701 on Thursday, Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert warned that Lebanon's opportunity for meaningful change 'will not stay open indefinitely.' Speaking alongside Assistant Secretary-General Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Hennis-Plasschaert welcomed the recent steps taken by the Lebanese authorities and the progress of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Still, she stressed the uphill path ahead, citing the urgent need to tackle systemic corruption, clientelism, and the issue of arms outside state control. 'There can be no turning back,' she said. 'This work must be done. It must be done to restore public trust. To build investor and depositor confidence. To preserve stability. And certainly, it must be done to move the needle on financing for recovery and reconstruction.' While acknowledging that state monopoly over arms won't happen overnight, she called for an overdue roadmap with clear timelines and concrete plans. 'The question of non-state arms is multi-faceted,' she noted, 'and demands foresight and a dedicated framework.' Addressing the fragile security situation, Hennis-Plasschaert pointed to Israel's continued presence in five positions and two buffer zones, as well as ongoing airstrikes. 'This new status quo cannot and must not be accepted as normal,' she said, warning that it will not bring the stability the parties claim to seek. She also highlighted Lebanon's exposure to regional tensions, referencing recent escalations between Iran and Israel and developments in Syria. A political-level track is urgently needed, she said, to complement military mechanisms and help resolve unsettled issues. 'Short of this, sustainable solutions will continue to elude both sides.' Concluding, Hennis-Plasschaert cautioned that Lebanon risks being sidelined as regional dynamics evolve. It's "a harsh reality that must be acknowledged,' she said, while calling for sustained international support.
MTV Lebanon
4 days ago
- Politics
- MTV Lebanon
Hennis-Plasschaert briefs Security Council on implementation of resolution 1701
During today's briefing on the implementation of resolution 1701 (2006), United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, told the United Nations Security Council that "the current window of opportunity to effect real change in Lebanon will not stay open indefinitely". Speaking alongside Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari, she commended steps taken by the Lebanese authorities in recent months and significant progress made by the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Special Coordinator acknowledged, however, that Lebanon has an uphill trajectory ahead in the area of reforms, noting the urgent need to address the "deep-rooted rot of corruption and clientelism", and on the question of arms outside State control. "And there can be no turning back", she said. "This work must be done. It must be done to restore public trust. To build investor and depositor confidence. To preserve stability. And certainly, it must be done to move the needle on financing for recovery and reconstruction." While admitting that there were no expectations for a State monopoly on arms to materialize overnight, Hennis-Plasschaert noted that a "clearly articulated roadmap with timelines, underpinned by concrete plans, was needed yesterday". She added that "the question of non-State arms is multi-faceted" and that tackling it requires "foresight and a dedicated framework". Turning to the cessation of hostilities, the Special Coordinator noted that the situation remains "tremendously fragile", given the continued Israeli presence in five positions and two so-called buffer zones, as well as recurrent airstrikes across Lebanon. She underlined that "this new status quo cannot and must not be accepted as normal", adding that it would "not lead to the stability, safety and security that the parties say they seek". The Special Coordinator underscored Lebanon's persistent vulnerability to regional instability, recalling the military escalation between Iran and Israel in June, as well as recent concerning security developments in Syria. In doing so, she asserted the need to "calibrate our responses to the regional dimensions of the challenges facing the Levant". To complement and reinforce the military-to-military mechanisms already in place, Hennis-Plasschaert further stressed the urgent need for a dedicated track to elevate unresolved issues to the political level to produce decisive commitments. "Short of this, sustainable solutions will continue to elude both sides", she stressed. In closing, Hennis-Plasschaert acknowledged that the Lebanese authorities are under tremendous and mounting pressure. "Lebanon, in need of major, sustained international support, runs the risk of being sidelined as regional dynamics shift rapidly around it – a harsh reality that must be acknowledged", she concluded.
The National
7 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Lebanon dismantles 'major' Captagon factory
Lebanon 's army says it has dismantled a major Captagon factory after finding a 300-metre tunnel used to deliver and store materials for the lab. The military said the site in Yammouneh, about 25km from the city of Baalbek, was 'one of the largest labs' raided to date. It said it seized about 10 tonnes of equipment and machinery and destroyed a 'large quantity of Captagon pills, crystal meth and various narcotics'. Work is now under way to find the people who operated the factory, the Lebanese Armed Forces added. They published footage of the raid, a bulldozer filling in the tunnel and the burning of some of the material captured. In May, the Lebanese army seized a large quantity of Captagon pills and dismantled a laboratory used to produce the drugs in a raid near the border with Syria. Also that month, the Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pledged to continue the fight against Captagon smuggling in an interview with The National. The illegal export of the drug has strained relations with Gulf states in recent years. 'We are looking to facilitate exports to Gulf countries, and we must do our part to ensure that red lines are not crossed, particularly those that have concerned Gulf states in the past, like the trafficking of Captagon through Lebanon,' Mr Salam said at the time. 'These drugs were produced in Syria, passed through Lebanon, took on a Lebanese cover, and were exported from here. Today, with the tightening of our border with the Syrian regime, smuggling and drug exports are more controlled. But that doesn't mean the problem is over.' The often porous Syria-Lebanon border has long led to rampant smuggling of people, weapons and drugs. Captagon was state-produced on a mass scale in Syria during the last years of the Bashar Al Assad regime, providing a vital income source to help prop up the cash-strapped government during the prolonged civil war. The drug was often smuggled into Lebanon through border areas where Hezbollah – the Lebanese armed group and political party that supported the Assad regime – held sway. Mr Al Assad was overthrown in a rebel offensive in December. Syria's new rulers have sought to eliminate production networks and publicly destroyed seizures of large amounts of the drug. Lebanon often seizes of vast amounts of Captagon and other drugs. In 2023, an estimated 10 million Captagon pills meant to be smuggled to Senegal and then on to Saudi Arabia were intercepted. In April 2021, Saudi Arabia suspended fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon after it said shipments were being used as cover for drug smuggling.
Arab News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
‘If Lebanon doesn't hurry up and get in line, everyone around them will,' Tom Barrack tells Arab News
NEW YORK: US special envoy Tom Barrack has warned that Lebanon risks falling further behind in regional realignments if it fails to act swiftly on political and security reforms, particularly regarding Hezbollah. Speaking to Arab News, Barrack said: 'If Lebanon doesn't hurry up and get in line, everyone around them will.' He said central to Lebanon's recovery would be the disarming Hezbollah's military wing, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization. He also emphasized growing American impatience with the country's political inertia and its inability to address mounting economic and institutional collapse. While Barrack acknowledged the group's dual role in Lebanese politics, he stressed that disarmament must be a Lebanese-led effort involving both the government and Hezbollah's political leadership. 'The process has to start with the Council of Ministers,' he said. 'Hezbollah the political party has to agree to that.' Barrack revealed that the US has facilitated indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, despite legal barriers, and said empowering the Lebanese Armed Forces would be key to a peaceful disarmament process, adding: 'We're not going to do it in a civil war.' While praising Beirut's recent response to a disarmament proposal as 'spectacular,' Barrack criticized Lebanon's political culture as one of 'deny, detour and deflect,' warning that without reform, the system risks extinction. 'They're satisfied with the status quo—until they're not,' he said. Barrack expressed cautious optimism about getting Hezbollah to disarm, saying: 'I think this government is ready. We're saying, you want our help? Here it is. We're not going to dictate to you. If you don't want it—no problem, we'll go home.'
LBCI
10-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
UNIFIL spokesperson says peacekeepers can operate independently under Resolution 1701
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement that several individuals in civilian clothing confronted peacekeepers near the Wadi Jilou area on Thursday morning during a planned patrol. Tenenti noted that the activity had been coordinated in advance with the Lebanese Armed Forces as part of support for Lebanon's implementation of Resolution 1701. He added that while the situation was initially calm, it quickly escalated when civilians began throwing stones at the peacekeepers, prompting the use of smoke canisters to disperse the crowd and ensure the safety of U.N. personnel. Lebanese army units later arrived at the scene and brought the situation under control. Tenenti reaffirmed that, as stated by both the Lebanese government and army, U.N. peacekeepers are permitted to move independently in southern Lebanon to carry out their duties under Resolution 1701 and do not require a Lebanese escort. He stressed that any attack on U.N. peacekeepers constitutes a serious violation of international law and Resolution 1701 and urged Lebanese authorities to hold those responsible accountable. He added that UNIFIL will continue to monitor and report all violations of the resolution impartially, in line with its Security Council mandate and at the request of the Lebanese government.
