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Iran-backed Hezbollah knows this and is keeping Lebanon's crises in mind as it plots the next steps in the conflict with Israel, sources say. As the war between Israel and Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas reverberates across the Middle East, the risk of war between Hezbollah and Israel remains higher than at any point since their last big conflict in 2006. Lebanon has no interest in war", a source familiar with Hezbollah thinking said. However, Hezbollah has also indicated a readiness for war, reflecting its position as the spearhead of an Iran-backed alliance against Israel and the United States. Lebanon took years to rebuild from the 2006 war which killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 158 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

Persons: Lisi Niesner, Israel, Walid Jumblatt, Isaac Herzog, Hezbollah's, Suleiman Frangieh, Nabil Boumonsef, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Ghassan Hasbani, Mohanad Hage Ali, Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Analysts, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanese, Annahar, Lebanese Forces, Christian, Carnegie Middle East Center, Thomson Locations: Israeli, Lebanon, Israel, BEIRUT, Iran, Hamas, Gaza, Arab, United States, Lebanese, LEBANON, Beirut

☆ Lebanon’s top Christian cleric slams failed attempt to elect a president
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, June 18 (Reuters) - Lebanon’s top Christian cleric said on Sunday the constitution and democratic system had been violated in "cold blood" during a failed attempt to elect a new president last week, and warned that divisions in the nation had widened. Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai spoke in his first sermon since the Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah and its closest allies thwarted an attempt by factions including the main Christian parties to elect an IMF official as president. Wednesday's events marked the 12th time parliament failed to elect someone to the post - reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian system and vacant since the term of the Hezbollah-allied Michel Aoun ended in October. The Hezbollah-allied Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri ended the session when Hezbollah and its allies withdrew, denying a quorum for a second round when 65 votes are needed to win. Without naming him, Lebanon's Shi'ite mufti accused him of being backed by Israel.

Persons: Bechara Boutros, Rai, Michel Aoun, Jihad Azour, Amal, Azour, Suleiman Frangieh, Nabih Berri, Elias Audi, Berri, Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry, Hugh Lawson, Frances Kerry Organizations: Hezbollah, Maronite, Israel, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Iran, Israel, Lebanon

Neither Azour nor Hezbollah-backed candidate Suleiman Frangieh came close to winning the 86 votes needed to win in a first round vote. Azour, the IMF's Middle East Director and an ex-finance minister, won the support of 59 of 128 lawmakers. Hezbollah and its allies then withdrew from the session, denying the two-thirds quorum required for a second vote in which 65 votes are enough for victory. Azour thanked lawmakers who backed him, saying he hoped the will expressed by "the majority of deputies" would be respected. George Adwan, a Christian lawmaker with the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces party, said the vote was "a major victory" because it showed Azour close to 65 votes.

Persons: Gebran Bassil, Azour, Suleiman Frangieh, Frangieh, Nabih Berri, Michel Aoun, Hussein al, Haj Hassan, Bashar al, Assad, George Adwan, Mohamed Azakir, Matthew Miller, Miller, Mohanad Hage Ali, Riad Salameh, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan dialled, Issam Abdallah, Simon Lewis, Tom Perry, John Stonestreet, Mark Heinrich, William Maclean Organizations: BEIRUT, Hezbollah, IMF, Maronite, Hezbollah Lebanese Forces, REUTERS, U.S . State Department, Carnegie Middle East Center, West, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Iran, Muslim, Saudi Arabia, Lebanese, Yemen, Beirut, Washington, U.S, United States, Israel, Damascus

☆ Factbox: Middle East flashpoints that could be affected by Saudi-Iran deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China also provided cover for Syria at the United Nations and kept up economic and political ties with Damascus. But as Iran's support helped Assad turn the tide, Saudi backing for the armed and political opposition has waned. Syria's foreign ministry welcomed the deal as an "important step" that could boost regional stability. In 2021, Saudi and other Arab Gulf states withdrew their ambassadors over what they said was Hezbollah's hold over the state. Seeking to de-escalate, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi began engaging directly with Iran.

☆ Explainer: What's at stake as Lebanon faces presidential vacuum?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

What makes electing a president so difficult, what's at stake, and who are the candidates? In the event of a vacuum, presidential powers should pass to cabinet led by Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Najib Mikati. The Maronite community is more politically fractured than others in Lebanon, giving rise to many presidential hopefuls. Anti-Hezbollah lawmaker Michel Mouawad has won the most votes in four unsuccessful presidential election sessions so far, but not enough to win. But analysts and political sources say he would face opposition, notably from the Maronite politician Gebran Bassil, President Aoun's son-in-law and a presidential hopeful himself.

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