Power cuts and plummeting exchange rates hit Lebanon

Blackouts last over 16 hours a day. (AP)
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Updated 07 July 2020
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Power cuts and plummeting exchange rates hit Lebanon

  • The Lebanese pound has lost 80 percent of its value this year
  • Unemployment of more than 30%

BEIRUT: Power cuts, plummeting exchange rates and soaring unemployment have hit Lebanon, even as the country’s president on Monday urged people to “stick to hope” and to not “surrender to obstacles and difficulties.”

President Michel Aoun made the remarks after Sunday night’s Baalbek International Festival - “The Sound of Resilience” - that was held without an audience and broadcast live on local TV channels in addition to Arab and international outlets. It was also live-streamed on the festival’s social media accounts and other digital platforms.

Aoun said that the musical evening was “the most expressive manifestation of the spirit of challenge and confrontation that drives the will of the Lebanese in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the one hand, and the economic and the unprecedented financial crisis in the history of our homeland.”

However the respite from the turbulence was brief and the Lebanese awoke to more grim news. There was a rise in the exchange rate of the dollar on the black market, with the purchase price ranging between LBP8,900 and LBP9,000 for $1. The selling price ranged between LBP9,000 and LBP9,200. The exchange rate of the dollar had fallen to LBP7,000 at the weekend.

The Lebanese pound has lost 80 percent of its value this year. Food prices have soared, businesses have closed, salaries and savings are vanishing and unemployment has surged.

It is unclear if the Central Bank’s decision - to secure the necessary amounts in foreign currencies to meet the needs of importers and manufacturers of basic and primary materials used in the food industry based on an exchange rate of LBP3,900 - will succeed in alleviating the crisis.

The Lebanese circulated a video of a person lying on a sidewalk in Baalbek with a sign that read: “I am an educator, I am educated, I am begging to live.”

The minister of labor, Lamia Yammine, estimated the country’s unemployment rate to be more than 30 percent after hundreds of institutions closed down and thousands of employees were dismissed.

Lebanon is also grappling with power cuts of over 16 hours a day. Rafic Hariri International Hospital said it was switching off some air conditioners and postponing some operations due to the power cuts and the lack of diesel.

The Ogero communications company said that its services “may witness interruptions” in some areas if the owners of private generators stopped providing some generators and communication rooms with energy.

This crisis, and others, have led people back onto the streets to protest and block roads in Beirut.

Taxi drivers protested in front of the Ministry of Interior in the capital’s Sanayeh area demanding the “amendment of the passenger fare rate.” Truck drivers working for cement companies blocked a road in central Beirut, opposite the Ministry of Environment, to request permission to invest in quarries. Teachers who were dismissed from private schools held a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, while the Association of Lebanese Industrialists warned that the sector was “bleeding.”

“The problems are not only related to providing liquidity to import raw materials, but also other problems that have imposed themselves strongly recently," Fady Gemayel, the association’s president, told Arab News. "These problems include industrialists having to resort to the parallel market to obtain the dollar to finance their purchases from abroad, especially raw materials, in light of the rapid rise in the exchange rate of the dollar. And finally the power cuts, the record rise in rationing hours, and the scarcity of diesel and fuel. This is a dangerous matter that must be addressed quickly before it is too late.”

Security forces continue to arrest activists for criticizing authorities on social media.

On Monday the activist Pierre Hashash was arrested and two of those who gathered to protest his detention were beaten.

“A group of security and military agencies summoned dozens of people and interrogated them, some of them repetitively, regarding comments they posted on social media criticizing the authorities,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East research director. “Lebanon must respect, under international law, the right to freedom of expression and its protection even if this expression carries a risk of being shocking, offensive, or annoying.”
 


Tens killed, wounded in Israeli strike on residential building in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, medics say

Updated 10 sec ago
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Tens killed, wounded in Israeli strike on residential building in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, medics say

  • The Gaza health ministry said 43,799 people have been confirmed dead since Oct. 7, 2023
CAIRO: Tens of Palestinians were killed or injured in an Israeli strike on a multi-story residential building in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya on Sunday, medics told Reuters.
There was no immediate figure of how many people were killed. The Palestinian Civil Emergency said around 70 people have lived in the property.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The Israeli army sent tanks into Beit Lahiya and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, last month in what it said was a campaign to fight Hamas militants waging attacks and prevent them from regrouping.
It said it has for killed hundreds of militants in those three areas, which residents said Israeli forces had isolated from Gaza City.
Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 people in the Bureij camp in central Gaza Strip, when a missile hit a house, medics said.
The Gaza health ministry said 43,799 people have been confirmed dead since Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis that day, and still hold dozens of some 250 hostages they took back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israeli strike hits south Beirut after evacuation warning

Updated 33 min 48 sec ago
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Israeli strike hits south Beirut after evacuation warning

  • Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X warned residents near the three target sites to leave

BEIRUT: A strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday morning, AFPTV footage showed, after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for three sites, a day after a series of raids on the area.

AFPTV images showed a column of smoke rising over the suburbs, already veiled in smoke from the previous day’s bombardment, after Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X warned residents near the three target sites to leave the areas.

Israel issued evacuation orders earlier where it is targeting Hezbollah militants, hours after the Iran-backed group said it fired on several Israeli military bases around the coastal city of Haifa.

Further south, overnight Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling hit the flashpoint southern town of Khiam, some six kilometers (four miles) from the border, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported early Sunday.

The bombardment came after Israel’s military reported a “heavy rocket barrage” on Haifa late Saturday and said a synagogue was hit, wounding two civilians.

Israel has escalated its bombing of Lebanon since September 23 and has since sent in ground troops, following almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in support of Hamas in Gaza.

In the Palestinian territory, where Hamas’s attack on Israel triggered the war, the civil defense agency reported 24 people killed in strikes Saturday.

Security services in Israel said two flares landed near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the town of Caesarea, south of Haifa, but he was not home.

The incident comes about a month after a drone targeted the same residence, which Hezbollah claimed.

Israel’s military chief said Saturday Hezbollah had already “paid a big price”, but Israel will keep fighting until tens of thousands of its residents displaced from the north can return safely.

AFPTV footage showed fresh strikes Saturday on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, after Israel’s military told residents to leave.

The Israeli military said aircraft had targeted “a weapons storage facility” and a Hezbollah “command center”.

Hezbollah fired around 80 projectiles at Israel on Saturday, the military said.

Israeli forces also shelled the area along the Litani River, which flows across southern Lebanon, NNA said Sunday.

The agency earlier reported strikes on the southern city of Tyre, including in a neighborhood near UNESCO-listed ancient ruins. Israel’s military late Saturday said it had hit Hezbollah facilities in the Tyre area.

In Lebanon’s east, the health ministry said an Israeli strike in the Bekaa Valley killed six people including three children.

Hezbollah said it fired a guided missile that set an Israeli tank ablaze in the southwest Lebanon village of Shamaa, about five kilometers from the border.

Late Saturday, Hezbollah said it had targeted five military bases including the Stella Maris naval base.


Israeli military reports soldier killed in battle north of Gaza on Saturday

Updated 17 November 2024
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Israeli military reports soldier killed in battle north of Gaza on Saturday

CAIRO: The Israeli military said on Sunday that a fighter in the Nachshon Regiment (90), Kfir Brigade, was killed in battle north of Gaza on Saturday.


Israel pummels south Beirut as Hezbollah targets Haifa area

Updated 17 November 2024
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Israel pummels south Beirut as Hezbollah targets Haifa area

  • Israel’s military reported “heavy rocket barrage” on Haifa, saying synagogue was hit
  • Lebanese authorities say over 3,452 people have been killed since October last year

BEIRUT: Israel launched a wave of air strikes on Hezbollah bastions in Beirut and south Lebanon on Saturday, as the Iran-backed militants said they fired on several Israeli military bases around the coastal city of Haifa.
Israel’s military reported a “heavy rocket barrage” on Haifa and said a synagogue was hit, injuring two civilians.
Since September 23, Israel has escalated its bombing of targets in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops after almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in support of Hamas in Gaza.
In the Palestinian territory, where Hamas’s attack on Israel triggered the war, the civil defense agency reported 24 people killed in strikes on Saturday.
Security services in Israel said two flares landed near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the town of Caesarea, south of Haifa, but he was not home.
The incident comes about a month after a drone targeted the same residence, which Hezbollah claimed.
Israel’s military chief, in comments issued Saturday, said Hezbollah has already “paid a big price” but Israel will keep fighting until tens of thousands of its residents displaced from the north can return safely.
“We will continue to fight, to implement plans, to go further, conduct deep strikes, and hit Hezbollah very hard,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on a visit earlier in the week to the Kfar Kila area of south Lebanon.
AFPTV footage showed fresh strikes Saturday on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, after Israel’s military called on residents to evacuate.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported a series of strikes.
The Israeli military said aircraft had targeted “a weapons storage facility” and a Hezbollah “command center.”
The NNA also reported strikes on the southern city of Tyre, including in a neighborhood near UNESCO-listed ancient ruins. Israel’s military late Saturday said it had hit Hezbollah facilities in the Tyre area.
In Lebanon’s east, the health ministry said an Israeli strike in the Bekaa Valley killed six people including three children.
Hezbollah said it fired a guided missile which set an Israeli tank ablaze in the southwest Lebanon village of Shamaa, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border.
Late Saturday, after Israel reported the rocket barrage on Haifa, Hezbollah said it had targeted five military bases, including the Stella Maris naval base which it said it fired on earlier in the day.
In eastern Lebanon, funerals were held for 14 civil defense staff killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday.
“They weren’t involved with any (armed) party... they were just waiting to answer calls for help,” said Ali Al-Zein, a relative of one of the dead.
Lebanese authorities say more than 3,452 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.
Israel announced the death of a soldier in southern Lebanon, bringing to 48 the number killed in fighting with Hezbollah.
In Hamas-run Gaza, the Israeli military said it continued operations in the northern areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, the targets of an intense offensive since early October.
Israel said its renewed operations aimed to stop Hamas from regrouping.
A UN-backed assessment on November 9 warned famine was imminent in northern Gaza, amid the increased hostilities and a near-halt in food aid.
Israel has pushed back against a 172-page Human Rights Watch report this week that said its displacement of Gazans amounts to a “crime against humanity,” as well as findings from a UN Special Committee that pointed to warfare practices that “are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
A foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the HRW report as “completely false,” while the United States — Israel’s main military supplier — said accusations of genocide “are certainly unfounded.”
The Gaza health ministry on Saturday said the overall death toll in more than 13 months of war has reached 43,799.
The majority of the dead are civilians, according to ministry figures which the United Nations considers reliable.
In Rafah, southern Gaza, Jamil Al-Masry told AFP a house was hit, causing “a massive explosion.”
“We went to the house, only to find it in ruins, with fire raging and smoke and dust everywhere.”
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday reiterated demands that the government reach a deal to free dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
The protest came a week after mediator Qatar suspended its role until Hamas and Israel show “seriousness” in truce and hostage-release talks.
In a rare claim of responsibility for a strike on Syria, Israel said it targeted the Islamic Jihad group on Thursday.
A statement from the group on Saturday confirmed that “prominent leader” Abdel Aziz Minawi and external relations chief Rasmi Yusuf Abu Issa were killed in the air raid on Qudsaya, in the Damascus area.
Islamic Jihad still holds several Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attack.
Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are all backed by Israel’s arch-enemy Iran, which said Friday it supported a swift end to the nearly two-month war in Lebanon.
With diplomacy aimed at ending the Gaza war stalled, a top government official in Beirut said on Friday that US ambassador Lisa Johnson had presented a 13-point proposal to halt the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
It includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon will deploy troops to the border. The official added that Israel has yet to respond to the plan.


UK doubles aid to war-torn Sudan

Updated 17 November 2024
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UK doubles aid to war-torn Sudan

  • Fighting broke out in April 2023 between the army under de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and paramilitary forces led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo

LONDON: The UK on Sunday announced a £113 million ($143 million) aid boost to support more than one million people affected by the war in Sudan, doubling its current package.
The new funding will be targeted at the 600,000 people in Sudan and 700,000 people in neighboring countries who have fled the conflict.
“The brutal conflict in Sudan has caused unimaginable suffering. The people of Sudan need more aid, which is why the UK is helping to provide much-needed food, shelter and education for the most vulnerable,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a government press release.
“The UK will never forget Sudan,” he vowed.
Fighting broke out in April 2023 between the army under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Last month, United Nations experts accused the warring sides of using “starvation tactics” against 25 million civilians, and three major aid organizations warned of a “historic” hunger crisis as families resort to eating leaves and insects.
Lammy is due to visit the UN Security Council on Monday, where his ministry said he will call on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to keep the vital Adre border crossing open indefinitely to allow aid deliveries.
“We cannot deliver aid without access. Starvation must not be used as a weapon of war,” he said.
The new funding package will support UN and NGO partners in providing food, money, shelter, medical assistance, water and sanitation, said the Foreign Office.
Deaths in the conflict are likely to be “substantially underreported,” according to a study published this week, which found more casualties in Khartoum State alone than current empirical estimates for the whole country.