Latest news with #NorthLebanon
Arab News
6 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Japanese Ambassador Magoshi attends ceremony of solar power system to training and autism centres in Lebanon
BEIRUT: Magoshi Masayuki, Ambassador of Japan to Lebanon, on Tuesday attended the ceremony to hand over a solar power system to the Al Midan training center and the North Autism Center located in Zgharta, North Lebanon. The initiative was supported through Japan's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Program (GGP). The ceremony was held in the presence of Rima Frangieh, Founder of Al Midan and NAC; Lamia Yammine, Executive Director of Al Midan, and Former Minister of Labor; Sabine Saad, Executive Director of NAC; Pierro Doueihy, President of the Municipality of Zgharta-Ehden; and Bassam Haykal, President of the Union of Municipalities of Zgharta. Al Midan is providing various training opportunities for vulnerable people in Zgharta, North Lebanon, while the North Autism Center has been serving youth with autism and other special needs in the region through specialized sessions and learning opportunities. Given the pivotal roles both centers have played in the region, Japan supported Al Midan with a solar panel system to help address the centers' pressing need for stable energy supply, which allowed them to increase the number of students and enhance the learning environment. During the ceremony, Ambassador MAGOSHI highlighted Japan's recent support for solar power projects across Lebanon in various sectors and emphasized the importance of this initiative. He also reiterated Japan's unwavering commitment to supporting Lebanon's education sector to help Lebanon overcome the ongoing socio-economic challenges. In return, Rima expressed deep gratitude for the Japanese support, emphasizing the vital role this solar energy system plays in sustaining services at both centers. She highlighted how the reliable energy supply has already begun to improve the learning conditions for children with special needs and enhance access to essential training programs for the community. She also reaffirmed the organization's commitment to creating inclusive and resilient spaces for all.
Al Mayadeen
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
2 martyrs in Israeli attack on vehicle in northern Lebanon
Two people were killed and three others were injured on Tuesday after an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in the town of al-Ayrouniyah, located in Zgharta, North Lebanon, according to a statement from the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Israeli drones continued to fly intensively over the Tripoli region and the site of the strike following the attack. مشاهد من موقع الاعتداء الذي استهدف سيارة في بلدة #العيرونية، شمالي لبنان.#لبنان #الميادين_لبنان a statement, the Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike, alleging it had targeted 'a central figure in the Hamas organization' operating in the Tripoli area. The claim has not been independently verified. This latest escalation follows Israeli air raids on Monday that killed two individuals in Deir Kifa and Beit Lif in southern Lebanon. The attacks come amid ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement along the Lebanese-Israeli border. The situation marks a continued deterioration of security in both northern and southern Lebanon, as cross-border hostilities persist. On Sunday, the Israeli occupation launched multiple strikes on the town of Burj Rahhal in the Tyre district, wounding nine civilians. Additionally, a young girl sustained critical injuries and was transferred to intensive care following an Israeli airstrike on the town of al-Zrariyeh in the Saida district, the Health Ministry reported. Israeli occupation warplanes also launched a raid on the outskirts of Bouslaiya and bombed areas between the towns of Ain Qana, Sarba, and Houmin al-Fawqa. Four consecutive airstrikes also hit the outskirts of Irzay in the Saida district. In a related escalation, Israeli warplanes intensified their aggression with a strike on the outskirts of Bouday, west of the Baalbek district, followed by two additional airstrikes on the outskirts of nearby Flaoui.
LBCI
08-07-2025
- Health
- LBCI
Two dead in Israeli strike on north Lebanon, according to health ministry
Lebanon's health ministry said, two people were killed Tuesday in a strike in the country's north. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas militant. "The Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle" near the northern city of Tripoli "led to a preliminary toll of two dead and three wounded," the health ministry said in a statement.
Arab News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
In north Lebanon, Syrian Alawites shelter among graves
HISSA, Lebanon: Behind a ramshackle mosque in Hissa, north Lebanon, the living are making a home for themselves among the dead. Beside mounds of garbage in the shade of towering trees, men, women and children from Syria's minority Alawite community seek shelter among the graves surrounding the half-built mosque — grateful to have escaped the sectarian violence at home but fearing for their future. 'We each have our own horror story that drove us to this place,' said a man with sunken eyes. One such story was of a mother who had been killed in front of her children by unknown militants as they crossed the border, said others staying at the mosque. All of the refugees that spoke to Reuters requested anonymity for fear of retribution. Around 600 people have sought shelter at the Hissa mosque. Hundreds sleep in the main hall, including a day-old baby. On the building's unfinished second story, plastic sheets stretched over wooden beams divide traumatized families. Others sleep on the roof. One family has set up camp under the stairwell, another by the tomb of a local saint. Some sleep on the graves in the surrounding cemetery, others under trees with only thin blankets for warmth. They are among the tens of thousands refugees who have fled Syria since March, when the country suffered its worst bloodshed since Bashar Assad was toppled from power by Islamist-led rebels in December. Almost 40,000 people have fled Syria into north Lebanon since then, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said in a statement. The outflow comes at a time when humanitarian funding is being squeezed after US President Donald Trump's decision to freeze foreign aid and dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year. NEEDS BUT NO RESOURCES The recent violence in Syria, which has pitted the Islamist-led government's security forces against fighters from the Alawite minority, the sect to which Assad's family belongs, has killed more than 1,000 people since March. For more than 50 years, Assad and his father before him crushed any opposition from Syria's Sunni Muslims, who make up more than 70 percent of the population. Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, took many of the top positions in government and the military and ran big businesses. Alawites now accuse the new government of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa of exacting revenge, but Sharaa says he will pursue inclusive policies to unite the country shattered by civil war and attract foreign investment. Trump said last week he would lift sanctions on Syria, triggering hopes of economic renewal. But this has provided little comfort to the refugees in northern Lebanon, who are struggling to meet their basic needs. 'UNHCR, but also other agencies, are not now in a position to say you can count on us,' said Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR representative in Lebanon, in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation in April. 'So, in response to new arrivals, yes, we will try, but it will be less (than before).' More refugees come from Syria every day. Almost 50 people arrived over two days last week, said one camp representative, who asked not to be named for security reasons. UNHCR is equipping new arrivals with essential items like mattresses, blankets and clothes, as well as providing medical help and mental health support, said a spokesperson. 'UNHCR is also conducting rehabilitation works in shelters to make sure families are protected,' the spokesperson added. 'FORGOTTEN' REFUGEES At the mosque, food is scarce and the portable toilets provided by an aid group have flooded. Garbage is piling up and is attracting vermin. Snakes have been killed in the camp, and one refugee spoke of the 'biggest centipedes we have ever seen.' The camp's children have nowhere to go. It can be difficult for refugee children to access Lebanon's school system, Human Rights Watch has said, while the refugees at the mosque say private schools are too expensive and may not accept children enrolling mid-year. 'We are becoming a refugee camp without realizing it,' said another man, also speaking on condition of anonymity. 'We need schools, we need toilets, we need clinics.' He said he fled his home in Damascus after being warned by his neighbor that militants were asking about him. He never expects to go back and is hoping to move abroad. But in the meantime, he said he needs to create a life for his children. 'What's his fault?' he asked, beckoning to his nine-year-old son. 'He was a computer whiz and now he is not even going to school.' The refugees sheltering in the mosque are among the millions of people affected by Trump's decision to freeze US funding to humanitarian programs in February. The UNHCR has been forced to reduce all aspects of its operations in Lebanon, Freijsen said, including support to Syrian refugees. The UNHCR had enough money to cover only 14 percent of its planned operations in Lebanon and 17 percent of its global operations by the end of March, the UN agency said in a report. 'Our assistance is not what it is supposed to be,' Freijsen said. 'In the past, we always had the resources, or we could easily mobilize the resources. These days are over, and that's painful.' The people in the mosque fear that they have been forgotten. 'Human rights are a lie,' a third man said, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. 'It is just something (that the powerful) instrumentalize when they want.'
LBCI
16-05-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Lebanon's deadly tradition: Stray bullets and lost lives in the 'epidemic' of celebratory gunfire
Report by Edmond Sassine, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian Celebratory gunfire remains a deeply rooted and dangerous practice in Lebanese society. So far, the Lebanese army has arrested 86 individuals, most for firing shots in celebration of municipal and mukhtar election results in the North Lebanon and Akkar governorates. This reflects a deeply rooted mindset in which individuals show little regard for human life, opening fire in celebration of a mayor, a municipal council member, or during any joyful or somber occasion, turning gunfire into a deadly ritual. One such victim is Mohammad Khaled, a young man from Ain al-Dahab in Akkar, who remains hospitalized after being wounded by a stray bullet fired by someone celebrating the election results last Sunday. These individuals show no remorse and appear indifferent to the families devastated by their reckless actions. Among the most heartbreaking examples is 7-year-old Naya Hanna, who was killed by a stray bullet during a celebration marking official exam results. Her death, along with numerous other tragedies involving children and women across the country, underscores the deadly consequences of this entrenched practice. The 86 people arrested—likely a number that will rise—will not be subject to the new legal provisions passed by Parliament last Thursday. Those provisions double the penalties for discharging firearms or facilitating gunfire, but they do not apply retroactively. Instead, current law will apply: one month in prison for firing a weapon, unless the shooter is proven responsible for causing a death. While increasing penalties, imposing fines, and enforcing legal action are all important, more critical is the development of a long-term plan to address the root causes of this phenomenon. This effort must involve coordination between the government, institutions, security agencies, civil society, NGOs, and influential community figures. Random gunfire and the killing of innocent people represent a cultural problem that must be addressed seriously, beginning in schools and through direct awareness campaigns in affected areas. Religious authorities must also be regularly warned about the dangers. As for the widespread possession of illegal firearms, a national strategy is needed to confiscate, regulate, and reduce their circulation, as part of a broader effort to prevent the tragedies they continue to cause.
