Lebanon, third minister resigns in a few hours. "Aid in exchange for reforms"

• Beirut, President Aoun: "A missile or a bomb cannot be ruled out"
• Beirut. The Saturday of anger with the cry of revolution
• Beirut: Unicef, 80 thousand displaced children, many family members are missing
• In Beirut at least 157 dead and 5 thousand injured. Wounded Italian military: very strong, indescribable roar
• Beirut, sources Farnesina: Italian died in the explosion
• Explosions in Beirut: the European satellite shows damage over 4 square kilometers
• Destruction and death in Beirut, the story of witnesses: "It was hell"
• After the disaster, the anger in Beirut. A policeman died, 730 injured
• Lebanon in chaos, Macron: "The government gives answers to the demands of the population"
• In Beirut the "Saturday of anger". A policeman died, 238 injured
• New clashes in Lebanon, hundreds of demonstrators in Beirut
• Beirut devastated by a huge explosion
• Beirut, President Aoun: "A missile or a bomb cannot be ruled out"
• After the disaster, the anger in Beirut. A policeman died, 730 injured

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Lebanese Minister of Justice Marie-Claude Najem has resigned. The media in Beirut reported this, quoting the minister herself. After the minister of information and the environment, he is the third minister who resigns within 24 hours after the controversy following the August 4 explosions, which have so far killed 220 people. The meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Prime Minister Hassan Diab is expected in the afternoon, at 3 pm local time (2 pm in Italy). In the last few hours, news has also arrived of the resignation of the holders of Information, Manal Abdel Samad, and of the Environment, Demianos Qattar.
The toll of 220 killed and about 7,000 injured in the August 4 explosions is so far the most serious to have occurred in Beirut in almost 40 years. On 23 October 1983 a double suicide bombing, claimed by the Islamic Jihad organization (identified by many as the then nascent Hezbollah), killed 346 people: mostly US soldiers (241) and French soldiers (58) present in the country in the framework of the international mission in the context of the Lebanese civil war (1975-90). 

Meanwhile, the emergency aid collected on Sunday during a videoconference co-organized by France and the UN for Lebanon after last Tuesday's explosion that devastated Beirut amounted to just over 250 million euros, the Elysée announced last night. The total amount of "emergency aid committed or mobilized in the short term" is € 252.7 million, of which € 30 million from France, the French presidency said.



In return, the donors' conference asked the Lebanese authorities to commit themselves to carrying out the reforms loudly called for by the population. Meanwhile, the protest does not stop. After the cry of 'revolution' on Saturday thousands of people poured into the streets of Beirut, today there were new demonstrations in the city center: a roadblock was forced near the Parliament and there were new ones riots, even a start of fire. And the protest of the square begins to produce results. Education minister Manal Abdel Samal resigned: she went on TV to make the announcement and apologized to the Lebanese people for not having satisfied their "aspirations". After her, the minister of the environment, Damianos Kattar, also pulled back, who told the premier, Hassan Diab, that he had also lost family friends in the explosion. Even the Maronite patriarch, Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, has joined the chorus of those who press for the executive to resign after what he said could be defined as "a crime against humanity". "It is not enough for a deputy to leave, or a minister to resign," al-Rahi said in his Sunday homily. "It is necessary, out of respect for the feelings of the Lebanese and for the immense responsibility required, that the entire government resigns, because it is incapable of making the country move forward". And he called for new elections, as the protest movement has been calling for, which has been making its voice heard at least since last October, so that a political class considered inept and incapable should stand aside.



Fundraising in favor of Lebanon is also supported by the UN "today's goal is to act quickly and effectively to coordinate our aid so that" the "support for families and friends of the victims reaches the Lebanese people and to those who brought relief, "the French president said again.  

The White House reports that US President Donald Trump said during the donor conference that the United States is ready to help Lebanon in the investigation into the explosion in the port of Beirut. "President Trump reaffirmed that the United States is ready. and intend to continue providing aid to the Lebanese people in their recovery. The president has agreed with other leaders to work together for an international response "and Trump also urged the government of Lebanon to" conduct a full and transparent investigation into which " Washington "is ready to assist" Beirut.