Lebanon faces the abyss as political elites dither

A few months ago the streets of Lebanon turned chaotic and were filled with young men and women demanding total political change. (AN photo by Elias Moubarak)
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Updated 28 July 2020
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Lebanon faces the abyss as political elites dither

  • The worst economic and financial crisis since the civil war ended in 1990 has crippled the country
  • Crisis is viewed as outcome of a system in which every faction looks out for its own interest

DUBAI: Just a few months ago the streets of Lebanon were filled with young men and women demanding total political change and an end to the country’s confessional system with its sectarian networks.

But neither the spirited rhythm of the protest movement nor the popular chants and slogans could stave off an impending economic disaster.

Savings are now being wiped out, unemployment is surging, living standards are plummeting and fiscal conditions deteriorating as the worst national crisis since the civil war ended in 1990 cripples the country.

Much of the population has access to just one or two hours of power every day from the national grid. For the remaining hours, electricity has to be sourced from a neighborhood generator operator.

In the midst of this meltdown, however, the Lebanese have gone silent. Why?

“Hopelessness and despair,” said Basel Dalloul, a tech executive. “Wherever there is trash you now see people looking for materials and food so they can survive.”

Then there is fear. Since the outbreak of the protests, activists and journalists critical of government policies and corruption have been routinely detained and interrogated by Lebanese internal security forces and military.




Lebanese politicians continue to resist the reforms that might have prevented violent protests on the streets of Beirut. (AN photo by Elias Moubarak)

“People still protest but not with the same momentum due to fear of the coronavirus and the political mafias that are violating human rights,” said a furniture designer who did not want to be identified. “Liberty of expression is in jeopardy. People have lost fingers, eyes and limbs for the mere act of demanding change.”

The consensus view of experts is that after decades of mismanagement, overspending and corruption, the bills have inevitably come due. Yet Lebanese politicians continue to resist the reforms that might have prevented the meltdown and can still create the conditions for international aid to begin flowing.

An immediate reprieve would be a $10 billion loan injection from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since February, Lebanese authorities have had 16 meetings with the organization. According to IMF officials, the talks have stalled and no serious commitments have been made by the Lebanese negotiators.

Many Lebanese are unsurprised at the deadlock, which they see as resulting from a system in which every political faction looks out for its own interests rather than the nation’s best interests.

Does this mean that Lebanon has reached its breaking point, or can it yet be rescued?

“The view of the Hirak (Lebanon’s protest movement) is that we probably need a total breakdown before we can change things,” said Nasser Saidi, Lebanon’s former economy and trade minister and founder of Nasser Saidi & Associates. “I love this quote from Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa: ‘We have to change everything if nothing is to change.’

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“It’s only when it becomes practically unliveable that you are going to get change. But if you look at the experience of other countries in similar situations, two things are comparatively different. The first is that, politicians always shift the discourse to a pro-communitarian versus pro-sectarian, pro-Syrian versus anti-Syrian, pro-Iranian versus anti-Iranian, pro-8th of March versus pro-14th of March, pro-Hariri versus anti-Hariri thing,” he said.

“Once the country’s ruling elites frame the current crisis in sectarian and confessional terms, all the other initiatives concerning reform will go out the window.

“The second thing is to change the narrative. As protests amplify, the ruling elite will say that this is now a matter of national security.”

All of this may be already happening. On June 25, President Michel Aoun delivered a speech on Lebanon’s stability, in which he referred darkly to an “atmosphere of civil war” and portrayed the anti-government protests as an attempt to stir up sectarian discord.

“Ever since we have come to life in this country or in most of the Arab world, we have been told that security and stability is paramount to our survival,” said Saidi. “Any challenge to the existing order is framed as a challenge to security and stability. But once you use that argument, then you can start using the repressive forces of the state, and this is precisely what is happening today in Lebanon.

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“The army and security services are quelling rising protests. Internal security services are now checking on the exchange rate prices at foreign exchange dealers.”

The breaking point, said Saidi, will come in early September. “Give it a maximum of 90 days and we will see an explosion in the streets. Hospitals will start closing, schools and universities will not be able to open. People cannot afford to send people to school. You will most likely no longer have electricity and once you no longer have electricity, everything else will break down, including communications.”

Not entirely unsurprisingly, some Lebanese say it will take nothing short of another war for the country’s strong and entrenched political interests to be fatally disrupted.

“War is always an option but never a solution,” said Maha Yayha, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. “In the short term, there needs to be an immediate fiscal stabilization. The economic collapse is now happening at an exponential rate and we cannot predict where it will go next.”




On June 25, President Michel Aoun delivered a speech on Lebanon’s stability, in which he referred darkly to an “atmosphere of civil war” and portrayed the anti-government protests as an attempt to stir up sectarian discord. (AN photo by Elias Moubarak) 

Yahya points to an increase in rioting by protesters at a local level, more clashes along sectarian lines and an increase in crime.

“There is now a 50 percent increase in levels of crime across the country, from petty crime, including people holding up pharmacies because they want diapers and baby milk and medicine, to murders,” she said.

In the medium to long term, Lebanon needs a new government that is credible both to the Lebanese and the international community, and with a mandate to carry out much-needed reforms, Yahya said.

However, this will not happen until political parties come together and decide “saving Lebanon is in their best interest,” she said.

“I don’t know what it will take,” said Yahya. “The country is imploding. The damage that is being done will last at least a generation. This will not be a recovery of two to three years as was suggested in December and January if reforms had been adopted immediately. Today, we are in a different zone altogether.”




Many Lebanese are unsurprised at the deadlock, which they see as resulting from a system in which every political faction looks out for its own interests rather than the interests of the nation. (AN photo by Elias Moubarak)

An agreement with the IMF, “which the country desperately needs, would bring in other donors to Lebanon, including the EU and possibly other Arab Gulf countries that have some means,” she said.

Saidi believes Lebanon’s ruling elites will try to divert attention from the increasing misery in the country.

“The misery index, which is the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate, in Lebanon now is over 100 percent,” he said.

Pointing to central bank losses of $50 billion and reports of unorthodox accounting practices by the bank’s governor, Saidi said: “They are refusing to admit that they made mistakes, that there are embedded losses in the system, that there was a Ponzi scheme by the central bank — the banks benefited from this, and the shareholders of the banks and big depositors benefited from it.




Some Lebanese say it will take nothing short of another war for the country’s strong and entrenched political interests to be fatally disrupted. (AN photo by David Raffoul)

“What’s most significant is that they got their money out with the connivance of the central bank. Individuals who have their deposits or income in Lebanese pounds have seen their wealth and income go down by around 70 percent. The only other cases I have seen like this are following hyperinflation after the two world wars in Europe and the end of the Soviet Union. There is now a destruction of the middle class in Lebanon, as happened in the 1980s.”

Lebanon’s only hope lies with reform, Saidi said. “There will be no help from outside, from other Arab states or Europe, or the IMF and the international community, until reforms are made internally.”

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Meanwhile, the streets of Beirut are eerily empty at night. In the popular neighborhoods of Hamra, Ashrafieh and Gemmayze, where bars and restaurants used to overflow with Lebanese and foreign patrons, the buzz is gone. Beggars now seek help from the few passers-by, hoping for momentary reprieve from a slow-motion calamity.

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Twitter: @rebeccaaproctor


Thousands mourn top Iranian military commanders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes

Updated 28 June 2025
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Thousands mourn top Iranian military commanders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes

  • Caskets of Guard chief Gen. Hossein Salami and Gen. Amir Ali Hajjizadeh and others were driven on trucks along the capital
  • Saturday’s ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefir

DUBAI: Thousands of mourners lined the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday for the funeral of the head of the Revolutionary Guard and other top commanders and nuclear scientists killed during a 12-day war with Israel.

The caskets of Guard’s chief Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard’s ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajjizadeh and others were driven on trucks along the capital’s Azadi Street.

Salami and Hajjizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war, June 13, as Israel launched a war it said meant to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, specifically targeting military commanders, scientists and nuclear facilities.

Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group.

Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people.

Saturday’s ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women and four children.

Authorities closed government offices to allow public servants to attend the ceremonies.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. But Israel views it as an existential threat and said its military campaign was necessary to prevent Iran from building an atomic weapon.


Yemen missile launched toward Israel ‘most likely’ intercepted, Israeli army says

Updated 28 June 2025
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Yemen missile launched toward Israel ‘most likely’ intercepted, Israeli army says

  • Houthis have been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza
  • Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted

The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted.”
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement — which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza — with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.


Sudan’s military accepts UN proposal of a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher for aid distribution

Updated 28 June 2025
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Sudan’s military accepts UN proposal of a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher for aid distribution

  • Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the rival RSF escalated into battles
  • The war has also driven more than 14 million people from their homes and pushed parts of the country into famine

CAIRO: Sudan’s military agreed to a proposal from the United Nations for a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher to facilitate UN aid efforts to the area, the army said Friday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called Sudanese military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and asked him for the humanitarian truce in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, to allow aid delivery.

Burhan agreed to the proposal and stressed the importance of implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions, but it’s unknown whether the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces would agree and comply with the ceasefire.

“We are making contacts with both sides with that objective, and that was the fundamental reason for that phone contact. We have a dramatic situation in El Fasher,” Guterres told reporters on Friday.

No further details were revealed about the specifics of the ceasefire, including when it could go into effect.

Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the rival RSF escalated into battles in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country, killing more than 20,000 people.

The war has also driven more than 14 million people from their homes and pushed parts of the country into famine. UNICEF said earlier this year that an estimated 61,800 children have been internally displaced since the war began.

Guterres said on Friday that a humanitarian truce is needed for effective aid distribution, and it must be agreed upon several days in advance to prepare for a large-scale delivery in the El Fasher area, which has seen repeated waves of violence recently.

El-Fasher, more than 800 kilometers southwest of Khartoum, is under the control of the military. The RSF has been trying to capture El Fasher for a year to solidify its control over the entire Darfur region. The paramilitary’s attempts included launching repeated attacks on the city and two major famine-stricken displacement camps on its outskirts.


Trump hopeful for Gaza ceasefire, possibly ‘next week’

Updated 28 June 2025
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Trump hopeful for Gaza ceasefire, possibly ‘next week’

  • United Nations officials on Friday said the GHF system was leading to mass killings of people seeking aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was “aligning itself with Hamas”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump voiced optimism Friday about a new ceasefire in Gaza, as criticism grew over mounting civilian deaths at Israeli-backed food distribution centers in the territory.
Asked by reporters how close a ceasefire was between Israel and Hamas, Trump said: “We think within the next week, we’re going to get a ceasefire.”
The United States brokered a ceasefire in the devastating conflict in the waning days of former president Joe Biden’s administration, with support from Trump’s incoming team.
Israel broke the ceasefire in March, launching new devastating attacks on Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel also stopped all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months, drawing warnings of famine.
Israel has since allowed a resumption of food through the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which involves US security contractors with Israeli troops at the periphery.
United Nations officials on Friday said the GHF system was leading to mass killings of people seeking aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was “aligning itself with Hamas.”
Eyewitnesses and local officials have reported repeated killings of Palestinians at distribution centers over recent weeks in the war-stricken territory, where Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants.
The Israeli military has denied targeting people and GHF has denied any deadly incidents were linked to its sites.
But following weeks of reports, UN officials and other aid providers on Friday denounced what they said was a wave of killings of hungry people seeking aid.
“The new aid distribution system has become a killing field,” with people “shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian affairs (UNWRA).
“This abomination must end through a return to humanitarian deliveries from the UN including @UNRWA,” he wrote on X.
The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centers while seeking scarce supplies.
The country’s civil defense agency has also repeatedly reported people being killed while seeking aid.
“People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“The search for food must never be a death sentence.”
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) branded the GHF relief effort “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.”

That drew an angry response from Israel, which said GHF had provided 46 million meals in Gaza.
“The UN is doing everything it can to oppose this effort. In doing so, the UN is aligning itself with Hamas, which is also trying to sabotage the GHF’s humanitarian operations,” the foreign ministry said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a report in left-leaning daily Haaretz that military commanders had ordered troops to shoot at crowds near aid distribution sites to disperse them even when they posed no threat.
Haaretz said the military advocate general, the army’s top legal authority, had instructed the military to investigate “suspected war crimes” at aid sites.
The Israeli military declined to comment to AFP on the claim.
Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz that their country “absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels” and “malicious falsehoods” in the Haaretz article.

Gaza’s civil defense agency told AFP 80 Palestinians had been killed on Friday by Israeli strikes or fire across the Palestinian territory, including 10 who were waiting for aid.
The Israeli military told AFP it was looking into the incidents, and denied its troops fired in one of the locations in central Gaza where rescuers said one aid seeker was killed.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP six people were killed in southern Gaza near one of the distribution sites operated by GHF, and one more in a separate incident in the center of the territory, where the army denied shooting “at all.”
Another three people were killed by a strike while waiting for aid southwest of Gaza City, Bassal said.
Elsewhere, eight people were killed “after an Israeli air strike hit Osama Bin Zaid School, which was housing displaced persons” in northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said they shelled an Israeli vehicle east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Friday.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas-ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said they attacked Israeli soldiers in at least two other locations near Khan Yunis in coordination with the Al-Qassam Brigades.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,331 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
 

 


Child laborers among 19 dead in Egypt road accident: state media

Updated 28 June 2025
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Child laborers among 19 dead in Egypt road accident: state media

  • Most of the victims were teenage girls working as day laborers

CAIRO: A road accident in northern Egypt killed 19 people on Friday, most of them teenage girls working as day laborers, state media reported.

A truck collided with the minibus carrying the laborers to their place of work from their home village of Kafr Al-Sanabsa in the Nile Delta, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Cairo, state-owned newspaper Akhbar Al-Youm reported.

According to a list of the names and ages of the dead published by another state-owned daily, Al-Ahram, most of the workers were teenagers — two of them just 14.

Egyptian media dubbed the girls “martyrs for their daily bread.”

Road accidents are common in Egypt, where traffic rules are unevenly enforced and many roads are in poor repair.

Accidents often involve underage laborers traveling to work in overcrowded minibuses in rural areas.

At least 1.3 million minors are engaged in some form of child labor in Egypt, according to official figures.