BEIRUT: A London court has ordered two Lebanese banks to pay a depositor $4 million of his money locked in Lebanon’s crippled banking system by informal capital controls in place since a financial meltdown in 2019, the first such ruling in Britain.
The High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, ordered Bank Audi and SGBL to make the payments, amounting to about $1.1 million and $2.9 million respectively, to claimant Vatche Manoukian by March 4, a copy of the ruling seen by Reuters said.
“Bank Audi will abide by the ruling of the British court,” a Bank Audi official told Reuters.
SGBL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lebanon’s financial system collapsed in 2019 after years of unsustainable financial policies, corruption and waste. Banks imposed tight controls on accounts, including a de facto ban on withdrawals of dollar-denominated deposits and limits on withdrawals in local currency.
These controls were never formalized with legislation and have been challenged in local and international courts, with mixed results.
A UK court in December ruled in favor of a Lebanese bank in a case brought by a depositor, considering the bank had discharged its debt to the plaintiff by issuing checks for the value of his deposits.
Many Lebanese banks have resorted to discharging dollar-denominated funds via banker’s cheques which cannot be cashed out in dollars and are instead sold on the market at about a quarter of their value.
Just a week prior, a French court had ruled in favor of a saver residing in France in a case she brought against a bank which had also issued checks for her account balance, saying the unilateral move by the bank, opposed by the claimant, meant the bank had not fulfilled its obligations.
UK court orders Lebanese banks to pay $4m to saver
https://arab.news/n4gb6
UK court orders Lebanese banks to pay $4m to saver
- The High Court of Justice ordered Bank Audi and SGBL to make the payments, amounting to about $1.1 million and $2.9 million respectively, to claimant Vatche Manoukian by March 4
- Bank Audi will abide by the ruling of the British court," a Bank Audi official told Reuters
UN Security Council condemns ongoing Houthi detentions of aid workers and diplomats
- On anniversary of the first detentions, council members call for immediate and unconditional release of all those being held
- They express deep concern about additional recent arrests and condemn death of a World Food Program employee in Houthi custody on Feb. 10
NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned the continued detention by the Houthis in Yemen of UN staff, aid workers and representatives of civil society, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
In a statement marking the first anniversary of a wave of detentions that began in June 2024, council members expressed deep concern over additional recent arrests and the prolonged captivity of workers from the UN, international and national nongovernmental organizations, and diplomatic missions.
They also condemned the death of a World Food Program employee in Houthi custody on Feb. 10.
The Eid Al-Adha holiday, which began on Thursday evening, will be especially painful for those who are detained and their families, council members said, and they warned that the continuing abductions create fear among humanitarian workers.
Threats to those helping to deliver aid are “unacceptable” and make an already dire humanitarian crisis in Yemen even worse, they added.
The 15-member council called on the Houthis to respect the principles of international humanitarian law, including the provision of “safe, rapid and unimpeded” access to allow humanitarian assistance to reach civilians in need.
Members welcomed ongoing efforts by the UN to secure the safe release of all detainees and reaffirmed their support for the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg.
They reiterated their commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yemen, and backed a “negotiated, inclusive, Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned” political process in the country under the auspices of the UN.
The conflict in Yemen has raged since 2014, when the Houthis seized control of the capital, Sanaa, triggering a civil war that has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Israel’s aid restrictions deny Palestinian children ‘chance in life,’ WFP chief says
- Cindy McCain urges Israel to allow aid into the territory ‘at scale’
LONDON: Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid to Gaza means a generation of Palestinian children are being denied a chance in life, the head of the UN’s World Food Program said on Thursday.
Israel imposed a full blockade on food and relief supplies from entering the territory on March 2, before breaking a ceasefire and resuming its devastating military operation a few weeks later.
Limited supplies were allowed back in late last month but nowhere near to the scale required, WFP Director Cindy McCain told Sky News.
“It’s very, very important that people realize that the only way to stave off malnutrition, catastrophic food insecurity and, of course, famine would be by complete and total access for organizations like mine,” she said.
“We’re looking at a generation of children that won’t have a chance in life because they haven’t had the proper nutrients. Right now, we’re looking at over 500,000 people within Gaza that are catastrophically food insecure.”
The resumption of limited aid supplies came after Israel built new distribution hubs in the territory run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a newly formed US organization.
Previously, the UN’s Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA and the WFP were in charge of distributing aid in the territory. But Israel has banned UNWRA from working in Gaza and has taken control of the aid system.
Scores of Palestinians have been shot dead this week as they attempted to access one of the new aid hubs in the south of the territory.
McCain said the new system was not allowing enough aid to get into Gaza to feed its malnourished population.
Speaking to “The World with Yalda Hakim,” she urged Israel to allow international aid to “get in at scale.”
“We need safe, unfettered, clear access all the way in and we're not getting that right now,” she said.
Her comments came as the GHF resumed its operations on Thursday after shutting down on Wednesday in response to the number of deaths near its hub.
McCain is the latest aid agency chief to deliver strongly worded condemnation of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, where its military operation has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
On Wednesday, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric said Gaza had become “worse than hell on earth.”
Residents of south Beirut suburbs flee Israeli warnings, strikes on Hezbollah factories
- November ceasefire sought to end the fighting — which left Hezbollah severely weakened
- Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river
BEIRUT: Huge numbers of people fled Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning and said it was striking underground drone factories belonging to Hezbollah.
The streets around the area were seen jammed with traffic as residents tried to leave, with Lebanese media reporting Israeli warning strikes.
“You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah,” said the warning from the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee.
“For your safety and the safety of your families, you are required to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them at a distance of no less than 300 meters.”
In a separate statement, the army said it would “soon carry out a strike on underground UAV (drone) production infrastructure sites that were deliberately established in the heart of (the) civilian population” in Beirut.
Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah engaged in more than a year of hostilities that began with the outbreak of the Gaza war and culminated in an intense Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion into southern Lebanon.
A November ceasefire sought to end the fighting — which left Hezbollah severely weakened — but Israel has continued to regularly carry out strikes in Lebanon’s south.
Strikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs, considered a Hezbollah stronghold, have been rare, however.
“Following Hezbollah’s extensive use of UAVs as a central component of its terrorist attacks on the state of Israel, the terrorist organization is operating to increase production of UAVs for the next war,” the army statement said, calling the activities “a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle their military posts to the south.
Israel was to pull all its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic” along the frontier.
The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south and removing Hezbollah infrastructure there, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam saying Thursday that it had dismantled “more than 500 military positions and arms depots” in the area.
Europe’s tough talk on Gaza belies its thirst for Israeli weapons
- Israeli defense ministry figures show exports of weapons to Europe surged in 2024
- European leaders have voiced growing anger over Gaza atrocities and threatened sanctions
LONDON: European leaders may recently have taken a tougher stance against Israel over the devastating Gaza war, but that is not reflected in their desire for Israeli weapons.
Israel’s arms exports increased by 13 percent in 2024 to a record $14.8 billion, an increase largely attributed to growing demand in Europe, according to Israel’s defense ministry figures released Wednesday.
Europe was the largest buyer, making up 54 percent of sales, a sharp increase from a 35 percent share in 2023.
Israel is among the top 10 largest arms exporters in the world and while it is dwarfed by the United States in terms of volume, its defense industry is one of the most technologically advanced.
European countries have increased defense spending to counter the threat from Russia and after pressure from the Trump administration to provide a greater contribution to the NATO alliance.
The figures show European demand has become a key new market for Israel, but there are signs that increasing opposition from countries like the UK, France, Germany and Italy to the Gaza war are affecting sales.
On Tuesday, Spain canceled a $325 million deal for anti-tank missile systems that were to be built by a subsidiary of an Israeli company. A government spokesperson said: “The goal is clear … a total disconnection from Israeli technology.”
Israel’s largest foreign defense deal was signed in September 2024 — to build an Arrow missile defense system for Germany at the cost of $4.3 billion. The system is expected to be delivered this year.
Yet even Germany, traditionally one of Israel’s closest allies, has started to condemn Israel’s Gaza operation, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying it “can no longer be justified.”
Israeli defense ministry officials are concerned that European countries may cancel further contracts or impose sanctions on Israeli defense companies, The Times of Israel reported.
Last month, the UK, France and Canada threatened “concrete actions” against Israel if it did not halt its military operation in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid into the territory.
The UK also paused negotiations on a free trade agreement with Israel.
The shift in stance from countries that were previously among Israel’s staunchest supporters came after Israel imposed a two-month blockade on food and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s desperate population and ramped up its military operation in the territory.
The killing of dozens of Palestinians congregating to access food aid from a controversial new distribution system has led to further rounds of strongly worded condemnation from European and global leaders.
The defense ministry export figures show that since the war started in October 2023, Israel has managed to continue growing its arms industry while at the same time carrying out operations in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria.
The numbers show the next biggest market for arms exports was the Asia-Pacific region with 23 per cent of the purchases. Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords made up 12 percent.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the all-time record in defense exports were the “direct result” of the military campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner to it,” Katz added.
The ministry said that nearly half the deals were for air defense systems, missiles, and rockets, an increase of 12 percent from 2023.
About 9 percent of the sales were for vehicles, while satellite and space systems, electronic warfare systems, and manned aircraft and avionics, amounted to 8 percent each.
More than half of the deals were worth more than $100 million each.
Europe’s governments have also faced pressure to cut back arms sales to Israel
Israel’s military exports are dwarfed by the military aid it receives from the US, which was estimated at nearly $18 billion for the 12 months after the October 2023 Hamas-led attack.
During the attack, 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages seized. Israel’s resulting military operation in Gaza has killed more than 54,000 people, mostly women and children, and sparked a humanitarian disaster.
Lebanese interior minister vows high levels of cooperation with UNIFIL
- UN chief appoints new head of mission for peacekeeping force
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar emphasized his country’s commitment to cooperating with the UN peacekeeping mission, particularly “during this critical phase.”
Hajjar’s comments were made during a meeting with Gen. Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of mission and force commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.
In a significant development, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday named Maj. Gen. Diodato Abagnara to succeed Lazaro.
Guterres expressed his gratitude to Lazaro for his dedication and leadership of UNIFIL during a particularly challenging period the mission has faced.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the number of UNIFIL troops was increased from 200 to 15,000 following the 2006 war.
The number of peacekeepers was eventually reduced to 10,058, made up of troops from 50 countries.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate on Aug. 31, amid increasing calls to restructure the peacekeepers’ role and responsibilities to better align with the current situation in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement.
During the conflict between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, which lasted from October 2023 until a ceasefire agreement was reached in November 2024, UNIFIL faced a series of targeted attacks from Israel. The Israeli government accused UNIFIL of “failing to carry out its duties in the area of deployment.”
UNIFIL also came under Hezbollah fire during the Israeli ground offensive.
Incidents of UNIFIL patrols being intercepted and even attacked by residents in towns within their area of deployment increased.
These incidents occurred under the pretext that the forces were “not accompanied by the Lebanese Army,” despite UNIFIL’s assertion that “all its patrols are coordinated with the army.” Additionally, Hezbollah seemed to have a role in these civilian interceptions.
During his meeting with Lazaro, Hajjar reaffirmed the ongoing cooperation between the Lebanese state and the international forces stationed south of the Litani River in implementing Resolution 1701 in all its provisions.
Hajjar during the meeting underlined Lebanon’s commitment to the highest levels of cooperation with the mission.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, several Israeli army Hummer vehicles advanced toward the orchards of Al-Wazzani town, where they remained for some time before withdrawing. Later, the Israeli forces launched seven mortar shells at the western outskirts of Al-Wazzani.
Specialized units of the Lebanese army moved and detonated a missile left behind by previous Israeli air raids in the Marjayoun region of southern Lebanon.
