Prime Minister Saad Hariri Heading The Ministrial Statement Committee

The man named as Israel’s new ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, 65, is the son of a spy who had been sentenced to death in Lebanon but was eventually part of a prisoner swap, a foreign ministry official said on Monday. A fluent Arabic speaker, Levanon was born in Lebanon, where his now 92-year-old mother was [...]

Israel’s trade minister began a visit to Turkey on Monday to mend strained relations, saying Ankara could help resolve the conflict between Israel and Syria.

Israel has not yet reached a prisoner-swap deal with Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday as efforts for the release of soldier Gilad Shalit appeared to gather pace. “There is no deal yet,” Netanyahu told deputies of his right-wing Likud party, according to an official present at the meeting.

A Lebanese security source told Al-Manar television on Monday that UNIFIL has not informed the Lebanese government of any Israeli plan to withdraw from the northern part of Al-Ghajar village. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported earlier on Monday that Israeli ministers are in favor of the withdrawal, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the security cabinet [...]

Kataeb Party bloc MP Elie Marouni responded to Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem’s recent speech—in which he said that he is “satisfied in advance” with the Ministerial Statement’s clause pertaining to the Resistance—saying, “such a tone, which disregards other party’s points of view in Lebanon, is not new; as if there is no group [...]

Former PM Fouad Saniora: Preserving independence is a continuous challenge that we should not back off from.

Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said a judge has been dismissed for misconduct, including bribery. Najjar refused during a press conference, to name the judge. He said however, that such action is the first in a long time. Najjar added the judge’s dismissal without compensation was a message and sign of reform in the judiciary.

After meeting with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun in Rabieh on Monday, Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters that relations between Aoun and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt have been ongoing. Aridi added that his visit to Aoun was “expected” even before President Michel Sleiman took the initiative to [...]

MP Alain Aoun to LBC: The Hariri-Jumblat team is convinced that the solution to Hizbullah’s arms comes on the dialogue table.