Spectre of war paralyzes Lebanon’s hospitality sector

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A staff waits for costumers at a restaurant in Lebanon’s coastal historical city of Byblos, on Nov. 10, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 16 November 2023
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Spectre of war paralyzes Lebanon’s hospitality sector

  • The fighting has so far been limited to the south, but some Western and Arab countries have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon, fearing a broader conflict
  • Many domestic visitors fearful of war have also cut back on expenses, hitting restaurants, cafes, bars and shops hard

BYBLOS: Bartender Richard Alam has poured hardly any drinks at his pub in Lebanon’s seaside city of Byblos, where once-busy streets have emptied of customers scared by border tensions during the Israel-Hamas war.
“I opened this whiskey bottle two weeks ago and it still isn’t empty,” said Alam, 19, standing behind his empty bar in the coastal city, home to a World Heritage site north of Beirut.
“Before, we would go through a bottle every day or every other day,” he told AFP.
Four years into an economic meltdown, Lebanon’s restaurants, cafes, hotels and shops face yet another challenge: keeping afloat during the Israel-Hamas war and related hostilities on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Gaza-based Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, triggering retaliatory Israeli bombing and a ground offensive in Gaza. Since then, Lebanon’s southern border has seen deadly escalating skirmishes, mainly between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah.
The fighting has so far been limited to the south, but some Western and Arab countries have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon, fearing a broader conflict.
Byblos, on Lebanon’s northern coast, “relies on tourists,” Alam said, wearing a bow tie and a suit.
“Our work has gone down from at least 40 to 50 tables a day to... seven at most.”
Nearby, customers are also scarce at Mona Mujahed’s souvenir shop, usually bustling with tourists and locals alike.
But there has been “no work, no money,” Mujahed, 60, said, sipping coffee in front of her shop where souvenirs sit untouched on the shelves.
Many domestic visitors fearful of war have also cut back on expenses, hitting restaurants, cafes, bars and shops hard.
Since 2019 Lebanese have suffered from a financial crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet’s worst since the 1850s. It pushed most of the population into poverty, and forced half of all restaurants, cafes, pubs and nightclubs to close down, said Tony Ramy, who heads an industry syndicate.
Ramy said the sector was just recently beginning to recover, after expatriate visitors flocked back to Lebanon over the summer following the coronavirus pandemic, the economic collapse and a catastrophic explosion at Beirut’s port in 2020.
“We had just turned the page on four difficult years with renewed momentum, but unfortunately the war ruined everything,” said Ramy, of the restaurant, cafe, nightclub and pastry shop owners’ syndicate.
“Since October 7 we have seen a dramatic decrease in clientele... (dropping) by up to 80 percent on weekdays and 30 to 50 percent on the weekend,” he said.
“No one knows if the situation in the south will deteriorate and no one can plan for anything,” he said, warning of the potential for “huge losses.”
Cross-border skirmishes have killed at least 88 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah combatants but also 10 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
In northern Israel, nine people including six soldiers have been killed, according to official figures.
Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) has slashed flights, and passenger numbers from the region to Beirut have dropped by 54 percent compared to last year, said the airline’s spokesperson Rima Makkawi
MEA passengers from Europe have also dropped by 30 percent compared to the same period last year, she added.
In Beirut’s once-bustling and vibrant Hamra area, the four-star Hotel Cavalier has seen hundreds of cancelations.
“From the first week (of hostilities), cancelations soared dramatically,” manager Ayman Nasser El Dine, 41, said in the deserted lobby.
“We had zero new reservations... This would be catastrophic if it lasts,” he said.
More than half of the hotel’s 65 rooms were pre-booked for November, but now staff barely welcome a dozen guests per day, he said.
The Cavalier was also overbooked for December and hotels had been looking forward to the Christmas holiday rush, he added.
But that was before the war.
Pierre Ashkar, who heads the hotel owners’ syndicate, said room occupancy had plummeted from about 45 percent to between zero and seven percent.
“Reservations have been canceled for the next two or three months” as countries advised their citizens against traveling to Lebanon, he said.
Even if the Hamas-Israel war ends tomorrow, Ashkar said “we need another month or two until countries change their travel advice so we can return to business as usual.”
But he expressed optimism that hotels in Lebanon, which saw civil war from 1975-1990, a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and the 2020 port explosion, would rebound once calm returned.
“We are a strong-willed people, born and bred during times of war,” Ashkar said. “If we didn’t have a long experience in crisis management, the sector would have long gone bankrupt.”


US envoy for Syria arrives in Damascus for historic visit

Updated 9 sec ago
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US envoy for Syria arrives in Damascus for historic visit

DAMASCUS: The US envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrived at the ambassador’s residence in the Syrian capital on Thursday, in the first official visit since the US embassy there closed in 2012, a year after Syria’s conflict broke out.
Barrack, accompanied by the Syrian foreign minister, was appointed to the Syria role on May 23. He is also the US ambassador to Turkiye.

Arab League welcomes EU shift on Israel as Western discourse begins to change 

Updated 23 min 44 sec ago
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Arab League welcomes EU shift on Israel as Western discourse begins to change 

  • EU backing for agreement review signals growing international pressure on Israel 
  • Arab League urges political solution amid mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza 

DUBAI: The Arab League on Wednesday welcomed the shift in Western discourse on the Gaza conflict, praising the “strong majority” of EU member states backing a review of the EU-Israel partnership. 

At least 17 out of 27 EU member states are calling for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. This review, initiated by a proposal from the Netherlands, is rooted in the agreement’s foundational requirement for adherence to human rights and democratic principles. 

The league noted that many Western governments, influential voices across political, civil, intellectual, and media sectors have begun to express deep concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories. 

For a time, these actors had been swayed by Israeli narratives surrounding the events of Oct. 7, 2023, remaining largely confined to a discourse emphasizing “Israel’s right to self-defense,” a statement by the Arab League said.  

The increasingly “visible brutality of military operations against civilians — especially women and children — has shattered the credibility of that argument,” the statement said.   

The Arab League stressed that such a narrative has proven hollow in the face of widespread violations of international humanitarian law. 

The league said that resolute positions aimed at recognizing the State of Palestine, threatening sanctions against Israel, banning arms sales, freezing free trade negotiations, and prohibiting the import of settler products represent significant steps toward increasing international pressure to end the war.  

These measures offer an encouraging prelude to a more accurate and just understanding of this long-standing conflict, aligned with the vision of a two-state solution, the league said.  

The recent Madrid Conference, attended by the secretary-general of the Arab League, marked a significant diplomatic effort to address the ongoing crisis. The gathering aimed to explore a viable political resolution to the conflict, emphasizing a two-state solution. 

Meanwhile, ongoing Israeli incursions into the West Bank and increasingly provocative actions in Jerusalem have further escalated tensions. Regional leaders and human rights organizations warn that the conflict has reached a dangerous low point, marked by systematic violations of international law. 


Cholera outbreak in Sudan capital kills 70 in 2 days: health ministry

Updated 29 May 2025
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Cholera outbreak in Sudan capital kills 70 in 2 days: health ministry

  • Health ministry for Khartoum State said it had recorded 942 new infections and 25 deaths on Wednesday
  • Army-backed government announced last week that it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last positions in Khartoum State

PORT SUDAN, Sudan: A cholera outbreak in Sudan’s capital has killed 70 people in two days, health officials said, as Khartoum battles a fast-spreading epidemic amid a collapse of basic services.

The health ministry for Khartoum State said it had recorded 942 new infections and 25 deaths on Wednesday, following 1,177 cases and 45 deaths on Tuesday.

The surge in infections comes weeks after drone strikes blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) knocked out the water and electricity supply across the capital.

The army-backed government announced last week that it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last positions in Khartoum State two months after retaking the heart of the capital from the paramilitaries.

Greater Khartoum had been a battleground for much of the previous two years, and suffered massive damage to housing and infrastructure.

The cholera outbreak has piled further pressure on an already overwhelmed health care system.

The federal health ministry reported 172 deaths in the week to Tuesday, 90 percent of them in Khartoum State.

Authorities say 89 percent of patients in isolation centers are recovering, but warn that deteriorating environmental conditions are driving a surge in cases.

The war between the paramilitaries and the regular army has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Up to 90 percent of hospitals in the conflict’s main battlegrounds have been forced out of service by the fighting.


Israel authorizes more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

Updated 29 May 2025
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Israel authorizes more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

  • They would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization

JERUSALEM: Israel said Thursday it would establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

They would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state.


Thousands storm aid warehouse in Gaza as hunger crisis deepens

Updated 29 May 2025
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Thousands storm aid warehouse in Gaza as hunger crisis deepens

  • The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire following 18 months of devastating war
  • Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people

DEIR EL-BALAH, Palestinian Territories: Thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed a United Nations warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, with the World Food Programme reporting two possible deaths in the tumult as Israel and the UN traded blame over the deepening hunger crisis.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza, where aid has finally begun to trickle in after a two-month blockade, is dire following 18 months of devastating war. Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people.

AFP footage showed crowds of Palestinians breaking into a WFP warehouse in Deir Al-Balah and taking bags of emergency food supplies as gunshots rang out.

“Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,” WFP said in a statement on X.

“Initial reports indicate two people died and several were injured in the tragic incident,” WFP said, adding that it was still confirming details.

 

Israel accused the United Nations Wednesday of seeking to block Gaza aid distribution, as the global body said it was doing its utmost to facilitate distribution of the limited assistance greenlit by Israel’s authorities.

The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid starvation fears and intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council that aid was entering Gaza by truck – under limited authorization by Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing – and via a “new distribution mechanism developed in coordination with the US and key international partners.”

Danon was referring to the GHF operation, which he accused the UN of “trying to block,” saying it was “using threats, intimidation and retaliation against NGOs that choose to participate in the new humanitarian mechanism.”

The UN said 47 people were injured Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians rushed a GHF site. A Palestinian medical source reported at least one death.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, reiterated the world body’s opposition to coordinating with GHF.

“We will not participate in operations that do not meet our humanitarian principles,” Dujarric said.

He said the UN was doing all it could to send aid, adding that since last week 800 truckloads were approved by Israel but fewer than 500 made it into Gaza.

As the war entered its 600th day Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive had “changed the face of the Middle East.”

He said it had killed tens of thousands of militants including Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’s presumed Gaza leader and the brother of Yahya – slain mastermind of the October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.

Israeli media said Sinwar was targeted by strikes in southern Gaza earlier this month. His brother was killed in October 2024.

In Washington, US envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism about a possible ceasefire, saying he expected to propose a plan soon.

“I have some very good feelings about getting to a... temporary ceasefire, and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution of that conflict,” he said.

But Gazans remained pessimistic.

“Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop,” said Bassam Daloul, 40.

“Even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare.”

Israel stepped up its military offensive earlier this month, while mediators push for a still elusive ceasefire.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people called for a ceasefire, lining roads at 6:29 am – the exact time the unprecedented October 7 attack began.

Relatives of hostages held since that attack also gathered in Tel Aviv.

“I want you to know that when Israel blows up deals, it does so on the heads of the hostages,” said Arbel Yehud, who was freed from Gaza captivity in January.

“Their conditions immediately worsen, food diminishes, pressure increases, and bombings and military actions do not save them, they endanger their lives.”

Out of 251 hostages seized during the October 7 attack, 57 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended the ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.