After the French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian packed his bags yesterday and left Beirut, news emerged about the Qatari envoy who will assume the mission of the Quintet Committee in completing the presidential elections.
Information varied regarding whether the Qatari representative is currently in Lebanon or will be arriving soon.
However, what is certain is that there is a decision at the level of the Quintet Committee that will be issued from New York in the coming days, transferring the responsibility from Élysée to Doha, to pave the way for reaching Lebanese consensus on a presidential candidate.
Qatar's role stands out as it can engage with Iran in the Lebanese dossier, something Paris has been unable to do for the past 8 months, failing to involve Iran in a settlement to break Hezbollah's attachment to its candidate Sleiman Frangieh.
In a related context, news from Doha reported that Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, received a phone call last Thursday from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who "thanked Qatar for its role in facilitating the Iranian-US agreement on the exchange of prisoners."
Qatar's Prime Minister confirmed "Qatar's commitment to support all regional and international efforts aimed at achieving security and stability in the region."
In parallel, it was learned that Hezbollah, pending developments in the presidential file externally, has decided to limit dialogue with the Free Patriotic Movement to the presidential election only.
Their decision is to restrict the dialogue to the name Frangieh only. If "the Movement" does not agree to this name, they will not engage in dialogue with MP Gebran Bassil on any other name.
From the presidential file to the Palestinian file in Ain al-Helweh, the ceasefire agreement held up with the efforts of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who met with two leadership delegations from Fatah and Hamas.
However, the public content of the two meetings did not withstand the leaks that spoke of commitments made by each party to exert efforts to fortify the agreement and implement the remaining items agreed upon in the "Palestinian Joint Action Committee" in Lebanon, which outlined a path for addressing the issues.
While Fatah leaked that Hamas pledged to hand over the suspects in the assassination of Abou Ashraf al-Armoushi, a key point in the renewal of clashes on several occasions since it erupted on July 30, Hamas officially confirmed, through its Deputy Head of External Relations Moussa Abou Marzouq during a tour of political forces in Sidon, that it is "a shared responsibility among all factions through the 'Joint Action Committee,' and we trust the guarantees and commitments made between us and Speaker Berri."
According to Palestinian sources, there is disagreement over the order of the agreement's provisions, between easing the atmosphere and providing a safe environment for the return of the displaced and evacuating UNRWA schools, and supporting and enhancing the joint security force for deployment, culminating in the apprehension of the suspects.
There are rumors that some of the wanted individuals may voluntarily turn themselves in, especially Lebanese individuals who sought refuge in the emergency area at earlier times.
In return, Sidon reaffirmed, through all its political forces and religious references, during an extensive meeting called for by Deputy Osama Saad at his home, "its rejection of resorting to arms in addressing Ain al-Helweh's issues, and its demand to solidify the ceasefire and prevent the repetition of clashes, due to the great danger it poses to the Palestinian cause, the right of return, and its negative repercussions on its security and the security of the Lebanese people."