RSS
PM-Designate Salam Extends Hand to Hezbollah, Aims to Rebuild Lebanon
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam speaks at the presidential palace on the day he meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in Baabda, Lebanon, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon‘s Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his hands were “extended to everyone,” in a gesture to the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group that accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him for the post.
President Joseph Aoun formally designated Salam, who has been serving as presiding judge at the International Court of Justice, to form the next government on Tuesday, after he won the backing of a majority of lawmakers the previous day.
Salam‘s nomination has reflected a dramatic shift in the power balance in Lebanon, a result of the heavy blows dealt to Hezbollah in last year’s war with Israel, compounded by the ousting last month of its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad.
It follows last week’s election of Aoun, the former head of the Lebanese army who has US and Saudi support.
Speaking after the meeting, Salam said he was committed to rebuilding from last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, and that it was time for “a new chapter” in Lebanon “rooted in justice, security, progress, and opportunities.”
Reconstruction “requires the full implementation of [UN] Resolution 1701 and all provisions of the ceasefire agreement and the imposition of the enemy’s complete withdrawal from the last occupied inch of our lands”, he said, referring to Israel.
Hezbollah had wanted outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati to keep the job, and believed this had been secured under the terms of a political understanding by which its lawmakers endorsed Aoun as president last week, Hezbollah sources say.
But Salam emerged with the endorsement of 84 out of parliament’s 128 lawmakers, among them Christians, Druze, and Sunni Muslim MPs, including both Hezbollah allies and opponents.
ANOTHER SECTARIAN RIFT?
Hezbollah and the allied Shi’ite Amal Movement, which together hold all seats in parliament reserved for Shi’ite Muslims, endorsed nobody, and have indicated they do not intend to join Salam‘s government. This raises the prospect of a fresh sectarian rift — unless he can convince them otherwise.
Salam said he supported unity and was against exclusion.
“This is my sincere call and both my hands are extended to everyone,” he said.
Aoun, in comments published on the presidency’s X feed, said Salam‘s nomination was “a democratic process” while appearing to acknowledge Hezbollah‘s concern, saying that “if one group is broken, all of Lebanon is broken.”
Hezbollah had long held decisive sway over such appointments, its role underpinned by the powerful arsenal which critics say has undermined the state and unilaterally dragged Lebanon into regional wars.
Under Lebanon‘s sectarian power-sharing system, the presidency goes to a Maronite Christian, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament must be a Shi’ite.
Salam said he would work for justice for victims of the 2020 Beirut port explosion. No senior official has been held to account for the blast, which killed at least 220 people and arose from the detonation of hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
He also said he would work for justice for depositors whose savings have been frozen inside the Lebanese financial system since it collapsed in 2019, the result of decades of corruption and waste by the ruling elite.
“We have wasted many opportunities to build the state. Enough wasted opportunities,” he said.
The post PM-Designate Salam Extends Hand to Hezbollah, Aims to Rebuild Lebanon first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.