French President Emmanuel Macron and UN chief António Guterres have called on the Israeli military to withdraw from south Lebanon, during separate visits to the country.
The visits are a show of support for Lebanon after its parliament recently elected a new president and prime minister-designate, ending more than two years of political stalemate.
They come as the January 26 deadline to fully implement a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah approaches. One of the terms of the deal is that Israel must completely withdraw from south Lebanon and the Lebanese Army – alongside UN peacekeepers (Unifil) – moves into those positions.
Alongside its bombardment of Lebanon, Israel launched a ground invasion last year – with some soldiers still in Lebanese territory and continuing to demolish border villages.
“There have been results … but they must be accelerated and long-lasting,” Mr Macron said, alongside Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun. “There needs to be complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the Lebanese Army must hold total monopoly of any weapons.” Mr Aoun was until last Thursday the commander of the Lebanese Army.
Under the terms of the deal, which is based around UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Hezbollah must also withdraw to the north of the Litani River.
“The continued occupation by the [Israeli army] inside the Unifil area of operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701 and pose continued risk to your safety and security,” Mr Guterres told peacekeepers in the border town of Naqoura, where the headquarters of Unifil are.
Mr Guterres also revealed that since the November 27 ceasefire, UN peacekeepers had found more than 100 weapons caches that he said belonged “to Hezbollah or other armed groups” in south Lebanon. Mr Macron also announced that Paris would in the coming weeks host an international reconstruction conference for Lebanon
“This is a message of gratitude,” Mr Macron said at the airport as he made his first trip to Lebanon since visiting Beirut days after the August 2020 port blast there. The explosion killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated large parts of the capital.
Mr Macron went to the eastern Beirut neighbourhood of Gemmayze that was severely damaged by the blast. He also met UN peacekeeping mission chief Aroldo Lazaro and the heads of an international committee with the responsibility of monitoring any breaking of a ceasefire. “Things are moving forward, the dynamic is positive” on the implementation of the ceasefire, he said.
The election of Mr Aoun and his designation of Nawaf Salam, the former president of the International Court of Justice, as Prime Minister, has brought hope of positive change in Lebanon – something Mr Macron alluded to.
“Since January 9, in the middle of winter, spring has sprung,” Mr Macron said. “You are this hope,” he said, referring to Mr Aoun and Mr Salem.
The French President's first meeting was at the airport with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. French officials have sought to describe Mr Macron's visit as a support for Lebanon's new leaders moving forward.
Mr Macron is also expected to meet Mr Guterres in the Lebanese capital ahead of the January 26 ceasefire deadline.
“A window has opened for a new era of institutional stability with a state fully able to protect its citizens and a system that would allow the tremendous potential of the Lebanese people to flourish,” Mr Guterres said. “We will do everything to help keep that window open wide.”
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
