Iran warns it will react to return of UN sanctions, spokesperson says
He added that European countries are not in a place to trigger the UN snapback mechanism.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
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UN Says 875 Palestinians Have Been Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites
The UN rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations. The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led fighters loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation. The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation, which it denies. The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest UN figures. "The data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical human rights and humanitarian organizations," Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva. The United Nations has called the GHF aid model "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards. The GHF said on Tuesday it had delivered more than 75 million meals to Gaza Palestinians since the end of May, and that other humanitarian groups had "nearly all of their aid looted" by Hamas or criminal gangs. The Israeli army previously told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimize friction between Palestinians and the Israeli army by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Program said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by "hungry civilian communities".
Al Arabiya
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US, allies agree August deadline for Iran nuclear deal: Report
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK agreed in a phone call on Monday to set the end of August as the de facto deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, Axios reported, citing three sources. If no deal is reached by that deadline, the three European powers plan to trigger the 'snapback' mechanism that automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran deal, according to the Axios report. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday France, the UK and Germany will launch the UN snapback mechanism on Iran by the end of August at the latest if no concrete progress has been made on a nuclear deal by then. 'France and its partners are ... justified in reapplying global embargoes on arms, banks, and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,' Barrot told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels. The 'snapback mechanism' is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program. Iran said Monday it would react to any reimposition of UN sanctions over its nuclear program, without elaborating on what actions it might take.
Asharq Al-Awsat
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Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity
Lebanon's central bank has banned banks and brokerages from dealing with a Hezbollah-affiliated financial institution, according to a circular, a sign of the group's diminished sway over state affairs since its devastating war with Israel. Keeping up military pressure on the Iran-backed group, Israel on Tuesday launched some of its heaviest airstrikes since a ceasefire in November, saying it hit training camps and weapons depots in east Lebanon. A security source in Lebanon said 12 people were killed, five of them Hezbollah fighters, Reuters reported. Hezbollah has faced mounting pressures since the war, including financial ones. In the circular, dated July 14 and reviewed by Reuters, Banque du Liban prohibited all licensed financial institutions in Lebanon from dealing directly or indirectly with unlicensed entities and listed Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hassan as an example. The US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on Al-Qard Al-Hassan in 2007, saying Hezbollah used it as a cover to manage "financial activities and gain access to the international financial system". Bolstered by its powerful arsenal, Hezbollah had long exercised decisive influence over Lebanese state affairs, but it was unable to impose its will in the formation of a post-war government in February. Al-Qard Al-Hassan, founded in 1983, describes itself as a charitable organisation which provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest. Israel struck some of its branches during its war with Hezbollah last year. Operating as a not-for-profit organisation under a licence granted by the Lebanese government, it has more than 30 branches, mostly in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. SHADOW ECONOMY A Lebanese official said the central bank move had been in the works for months, and reflected US pressure on Lebanon to take action against Hezbollah's financial wing. Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank, said Lebanese banks were already careful to avoid dealing with Al-Qard Al-Hassan because it is under US sanctions. "The important point is that finally the authorities are addressing the shadow economy in Lebanon, which is the real problem," he said, adding that authorities had long failed to address its "toxic effects". In June, the European Commission included Lebanon in an updated list of high-risk jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. Last year, global financial crime watchdog FATF placed Lebanon on its "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny.
