Facebook and Instagram Owner Reveals Foreign Funding Behind “No to Lebanese War” Campaign / ICC Prosecutor Urges Judges to Issue Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant

Albinaa’ Newspaper Headlines August 24, 2024

The political editor wrote

 The U.S. National Security Council spokesperson has abandoned his oft-repeated claim during the months-long war on Gaza, that the ceasefire agreement was nearly complete and only requires final touches. Instead, he admitted that the negotiations have stalled, though he refrained from admitting that they have stopped because the relevant party – represented by Hamas, has boycotted the negotiations’ due to their deviation from the original purpose and context.

He highlighted that the opposing side was exploiting the talks to buy time to conduct further killings while imposing additional demands.

John Kirby stated that reports of the negotiations reaching a dead end were inaccurate, asserting that an agreement was still possible and that President Biden’s administration was actively working to facilitate progress.

On the ground, the realities spoke louder than politics. The intense clashes on all fronts revealed the extent of the political deadlock preventing an agreement.

On the Yemen front, for the third consecutive day, the Yemeni army and Ansar Allah announced the targeting of more ships under the embargo, setting them ablaze.

In Lebanon, Israeli media reported that over a hundred rockets had been fired from southern Lebanon at Israeli military sites and headquarters, marking a third consecutive day of intensified resistance strikes following two days of escalated confrontations.

The Israeli army expanded its scope of airstrikes targeting resistance fighters and civilians, while in Gaza, the resistance retaliated to Israeli massacres by shelling settlements around Gaza after weeks of ceasefire, successfully targeting and destroying over ten vehicles in the past two days.

In Lebanon, public opinion was shocked by a statement from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, revealing that the “Lebanon Doesn’t Want War” campaign was orchestrated by a Vietnamese company called LT Media. The campaign targeted Lebanon, the United States, Britain, France, and Qatar, spending $1.2 million on paid advertisements across all its campaigns (including “Lebanon Doesn’t Want War”).

The campaign was managed through 112 Facebook accounts, 65 pages, and 49 Instagram accounts. Meta clarified that the campaign, which appeared under the hashtag “Lebanon Doesn’t Want War” and had been reported by Lebanese media as organised by a group of Lebanese youth and businessmen, backed by a Gulf advertising executive, was in fact orchestrated by the Vietnamese network. Lebanese citizens now await further judicial investigation, as the campaign, initially presented as a genuine Lebanese opposition to Hezbollah’s opening of a support front for Gaza, has been revealed as a foreign-funded and operated initiative, possibly involving the occupying entity.

On the international judicial front, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan requested an urgent ruling on arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

He emphasised that the court has jurisdiction over Israeli citizens committing heinous crimes in Palestinian territories. Khan warned that any unjustified delay would harm the victims’ rights and called on the court to reject appeals from numerous governments and other entities.

He argued that the court’s jurisdiction in this matter is well-established, dismissing legal arguments based on the Oslo Accords and Israel’s claims of internal investigations into alleged war crimes. ICC prosecutors believe there are reasonable grounds to hold Netanyahu and Gallant criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.