Lebanese foreign affairs minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday said his country asked for assistance from Qatar to evacuate Lebanese women from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

“We requested Qatari assistance to get Lebanese women and their families out through the Rafah crossing, as they have been stuck since the start of the aggression on Gaza, in spite of all our previous attempts to bring them home,” Mr Bou Habib said.

This is according to a report by the Lebanese National News Agency.

Mr Bou Habib made the remarks after meeting with Qatar’s ambassador to Lebanon, Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani.

Meanwhile, Mr Bou Habib praised Qatar’s constructive role in helping Lebanon emerge from its presidential crisis.

He said Qatar is working through the five-nation group on Lebanon, which comprises Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, and the United States, to help the country accelerate its presidential election and financial and economic reforms.

The position of Lebanese president has been vacant since the end of the term of former President Michel Aoun in October 2022.

The parliament failed to elect a new president for the country in light of the division of political forces and the failure of the parliamentary blocs to agree on a consensual figure to assume the presidency.

(Xinhua/NAN)