BEIRUT: Dozens of cancer patients in Lebanon staged a demonstration on Saturday in Riad Al-Solh Square near the headquarters of the prime minister to highlight the unavailability of drugs in pharmacies and hospitals.
Protesters held banners saying, “We will tell God everything” and “Medicine will be available when you stop your corruption.”
The patients’ protest on Saturday coincided with World Cancer Day.
Joe Salloum, president of the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists, condemned, along with the Barbara Nassar Association for Cancer Patient Support, “the genocide committed against the patients by depriving them of cancer medication.”
Salloum is one of the organizers of the protest taking place in Beirut.
Joyce, a protester in her 40s, said: “Medicine is unavailable. I cannot buy it myself because I cannot cover its costs, but I get it from an association that supports cancer patients in Lebanon.”
Joyce, who suffers from breast cancer and needs an eight-year-long treatment, added: “If the government decides to lift subsidies on cancer medication as it has been reported lately, what am I going to do? The ruling class is no longer subsidizing anything, but it can at least keep the subsidies on the medication so we can stay alive.”
Karim Gebara, head of the Lebanese Pharmaceutical Importers, believes there is a drug shortage because the funds available for their purchase are not enough to cover the needs of all Lebanese patients.
Gebara said that importers no longer play a key role when it comes to the amount of imported drugs. Instead, it is the Health Ministry that decides the quantity and type of drugs and who will receive them, Gebara added.
Patients and activists supporting them wore black during their protest on Saturday, mourning cancer victims who died last year because they could not receive their treatment on time.
They charged that the state is “trying to kill and exterminate them.”
Last year, cancer patients carried and smashed a wooden coffin symbolizing their death caused by the lack of medicine and inability to receive treatment.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad said that cancer patients have a right to be worried, but the ministry has not lifted subsidies on medications for cancer and incurable diseases.
“What happened is that we substituted eight expensive medications with generic ones from international companies,” he said.
“Moreover, the price of one branded medication pack equals the price of two generic medication packs, meaning that for the price of one branded medication pack, I can give two patients two generic medication packs. This does not mean that subsidies were lifted as interpreted by some people.”
Abiad stressed that one of the ministry’s priorities is to secure medication and treatment for patients suffering from cancer and incurable diseases, adding that their numbers range between 20,000 and 30,000.
He said the computerized system the ministry has set up to track subsidized medications, such as those for cancer and incurable diseases, has the aim of providing fair treatment.
It has, to date, detected many loopholes, including how some people would acquire expensive cancer medications under the names of deceased patients or in a quantity that exceeds their needs, said Abiad.
Now, the minister said 90 percent of the subsidized medications are going to the right place and the ministry is in the process of adding more medications to the tracking system.
The Ministry of Health has previously warned against smuggling subsidized cancer drugs outside Lebanon and using counterfeit or expired drugs smuggled inside Lebanon. Several hospitals have documented dozens of samples that, upon inspection, were found to be mixed with water and salt.
According to patients, subsidized medications do not arrive on time, which messes up the schedule of treatment sessions, leading to the deterioration of patients’ health conditions.
Abiad said complaints stem from the fact that drug companies no longer keep extra stock in their warehouses because of Lebanon’s current financial straits, causing a delay.
“Previously, we were suffering from the lack of drugs. Now we suffer from their late arrival. We are continuously working under tough circumstances. Public sector employees are still on strike, and we are doing everything we can,” he said.
Patients who can no longer find their medications are either importing them or opting for alternatives from Turkiye, Armenia, India, Iran and Syria.
The funds the Ministry of Health has allocated for medications for cancer and incurable diseases decreased from $45 million to $35 million per month, due to Lebanon’s current economic crisis.
Abiad said: “Of those funds, $12 million was allocated to cancer and incurable diseases. Now that we have lifted the subsidies on medicines for other diseases, we have directed financial savings to medicines for cancer and incurable diseases and raised the allocated amount to $25 million.”
The Cabinet is set to meet next week to discuss an agenda of “necessary, urgent and emergency topics.”
The agenda includes three points related to securing the needs of the Ministry of Health for the purchase of drugs for cancer and incurable diseases, dialysis supplies and primary materials for the pharmaceutical industry, in addition to the payment of social assistance to workers in government hospitals.
Ismail Sukkarieh, head of the “Health is a Right and Dignity” campaign, told Arab News: “There are dozens of files related to price manipulation, counterfeit drugs, the smuggling of drugs from the Ministry of Health that are then sold on the black market and outside Lebanon.
“These files weren’t appropriately addressed by the Parliament, the parties or the educated elites. This gave the drug mafia the green light and allowed it to exploit the health of cancer patients by withholding medications and reselling them for obscene prices on the black market.”
Cancer patients in Lebanon fear death due to lack of vital medicine
https://arab.news/r6m6f
Cancer patients in Lebanon fear death due to lack of vital medicine
- The patients’ protest on Saturday coincided with World Cancer Day
- Joe Salloum, president of the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists, condemned “the genocide committed against the patients by depriving them of cancer medication”
US envoy expected in Beirut on Tuesday for ceasefire talks
- World powers say a Lebanon ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel
The US-led ceasefire diplomacy has come back into focus as Israel has been stepping up its offensive: Israeli strikes in two Beirut neighborhoods killed six people including at least one senior Hezbollah official on Sunday, the first time Israel has struck central areas of the capital in a month.
The new US truce proposal was delivered last week to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate.
White House envoy Amos Hochstein was expected in Beirut on Tuesday for talks on the ceasefire, a Lebanese political source told Reuters. Lebanese media outlet Voice of Lebanon also reported the visit, citing Lebanese lawmaker Kassem Hashem, who is part of Berri’s parliamentary bloc.
World powers say a Lebanon ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Its terms require Hezbollah to move weapons and fighters north of the Litani river, some 20 kilometers north of the border.
The diplomacy has been complicated by an Israeli demand for the freedom to act should Hezbollah violate any agreement, which Lebanon has rejected.
Israel launched its offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Its declared goal is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis forced to evacuate the north due to rocket fire from Hezbollah, which opened fire in solidarity with its ally Hamas as the Gaza war got underway more than a year ago.
The Israeli campaign has uprooted more than 1 million people in Lebanon. Israel has dealt Hezbollah heavy blows, using airstrikes to pummel wide areas of Lebanon and sending ground forces into the south.
Israel assassinates Hezbollah media official
- Mohammed Afif killed in strike on Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party office in central Beirut, Lebanon
- Afif, founding member of Hezbollah, joined party in 1983, and has been media in-charge since 2014
BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a building in central Beirut on Sunday killed Hezbollah’s media relations chief, Mohammad Afif.
It was later announced that Mahmoud Al-Sharqawi, who was assisting Afif, was also killed at the headquarters of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party in Ras Al-Nabaa, a neighborhood of Beirut.
This is the first time this area has been attacked since Israel began operations in the country.
It is densely populated with residents and displaced people from the south, and Beirut’s southern suburbs who have taken refuge there.
The strike also wounded three others, the Health Ministry said in a preliminary count.
Paramedics at the scene of the attack told Arab News about “seeing more blood under the rubble, which is being cleared to determine the fate of those who were inside the building.”
The targeted center has belonged to the Ba’ath Party for decades.
Its Secretary-General Ali Hijazi said he was not in the building at the time of the airstrike, and did not explain why Afif was holding a meeting in the Ba’ath Party building.
Information circulated at the site of the attack that a group from Hezbollah’s media relations department was in the building when it was targeted, raising fears that three people accompanying Afif and who are missing might also have been killed.
On Oct. 22 and Nov. 11, Afif held two press conferences in the open air in the southern suburb of Beirut to present Hezbollah’s positions on developments under the watchful eye of Israeli reconnaissance planes, which are constantly flying over the southern suburb.
Afif was a founding member of Hezbollah, joining the party in 1983, and has been in charge of its media since 2014.
He managed Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets such as Al-Manar TV, Al-Nour radio station, and Al-Ahed news website.
Several residents of the targeted area said they received calls warning them to evacuate their homes immediately beforehand.
A 50-year-old woman said: “I just left the house without taking anything with me. It is a real terror.”
The airstrike, which is suspected to have been launched by a drone, destroyed the upper floors of the five-story building, and damaged neighboring buildings on the narrow street.
Israeli army radio confirmed Mohammed Afif was the target of the strike.
It is the third time Beirut has been targeted since the Israeli military expanded its operations in Lebanon.
On Oct. 10, three airstrikes were directed at Wafiq Safa, the head of the liaison and coordination unit of Hezbollah, severely injuring him, as well as the destruction of two buildings in the neighborhoods of Basta and Nuwairi.
A week before, a Hezbollah ambulance center in Bachoura was attacked, leading to the deaths of six people and injuries to seven others.
On Sunday, residents of the Ain Al-Rummaneh area adjacent to the Chiyah district received evacuation warnings issued by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee via X, accompanied by maps indicating locations to be targeted on the outskirts of Ain Al-Rummaneh, Haret Hreik, and Hadath.
Israeli warplanes subsequently demolished tall residential and commercial buildings in the area.
Our Lady of Salvation Church in Hadath was severely damaged, as were the surroundings of Mar Mikhael Church.
This was followed by a second wave of raids on residential buildings in Burj Al-Barajneh and Bir Al-Abed, and a third wave targeted more than one location in Haret Hreik and Sfeir.
The Israeli spokesperson claimed that the airstrikes “targeted military command centers and other terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hezbollah in the southern suburbs.”
The claim came as Israeli attacks targeting southern Lebanon continued.
The residents of 15 towns deep in the south were asked to evacuate their houses immediately and move north of the Awali River.
The Lebanese military said an Israeli attack on Sunday killed two soldiers, accusing Israel of directly targeting their position in southern Lebanon.
“The Israeli enemy directly targeted an army center” in Al-Mari in the Hasbaya area, causing “the death of one of the soldiers and the wounding of three others, one of whom is in critical condition,” the army said in a statement.
A separate statement shortly afterward said “a second soldier” had died of his wounds.
The Lebanese Army has lost 36 soldiers to Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon over the past year.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati paid tribute to the “martyrs of the army who gave their lives.”
He said: “We must all cooperate so their sacrifices do not go in vain by working first to stop the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and enable the army to carry out all the tasks required of it, to extend the authority of the state alone over all Lebanese territories.”
Mikati said he was hopeful that the ongoing talks would result in a ceasefire.
Also on Sunday, Israeli strikes targeted a house in Chabriha, Sidon District, causing injuries, with raids hitting Tefahta and Aanquoun as well.
In another incident, a person was killed and three injured at dawn in an air raid on the town of Jdeidet Marjayoun.
On Saturday night, a family of seven, including three children, were killed when their house in Arabsalim was targeted.
The displaced Al-Hattab family had moved to the north but was not able to adapt to the conditions of displacement and decided to go back to their home in Arabsalim days before it was hit.
Hezbollah said its confrontations with the Israeli army continued at the borders, especially in Shama.
Suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi militia targets ship in the Red Sea
- A ship’s captain saw that “a missile splashed in close proximity to the vessel” as it traveled near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, UKMTO reports
- Fortunately, the vessel and crew were not hit in the attack, which happened some 48 kilometers west of Yemen port city of Mocha
DUBAI: A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a commercial ship late Sunday night traveling through the southern reaches of the Red Sea, though it caused no damage nor injuries, authorities said.
The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon.
A ship’s captain saw that “a missile splashed in close proximity to the vessel” as it traveled near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said in an alert. The attack happened some 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Yemen port city of Mocha.
“The vessel and crew are safe and proceeding to its next port of call,” the UKMTO added.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.
The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign, which also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well.
The militia maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The Houthis have shot down multiple American MQ-9 Reaper drones as well.
In the Houthi's last attack on Nov. 11, two US Navy warships targeted with multiple drones and missiles as they were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the attacks were not successful.
Palestinian WAFA journalist Rasha Herzallah jailed for 6 months by Israeli court
- Detention extended 5 times before ‘incitement on social media’ charge was brought
LONDON: An Israeli military court sentenced Palestinian journalist Rasha Herzallah to six months in jail on Sunday and fined her 13,000 shekels ($3,300).
Herzallah, 39, was working for the official Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) at the time of her arrest last June, when she was summoned to an investigation at the Israeli Huwwara detention center north of the occupied West Bank.
Her detention was extended five times before a charge of “incitement on social media” was brought to court at the Israeli Salem military base near Jenin. She is expected to be released from prison on Dec. 1.
Herzallah is the sister of Muhammad Herzallah, who died in November 2023 after being shot in the head by Israeli forces during a raid on Nablus city, WAFA reported. She is among 94 Palestinian journalists currently detained in Israeli jails.
WAFA reported that three other female journalists, Rola Hassanin, Bushra Al-Tawil and Amal Shujaiyah, a journalism student from Birzeit University, also remain in detention.
Cultural experts urge UN to shield Lebanon’s heritage
- Lebanon’s cultural heritage at large is being endangered by recurrent assaults on ancient cities such as Baalbek, Tyre, and Anjar, all UNESCO world heritage sites, and other historic landmarks.
BEIRUT: Hundreds of cultural professionals, including archeologists and academics, called on the UN to safeguard war-torn Lebanon’s heritage in a petition published on Sunday before a crucial UNESCO meeting.
Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east and Tyre in the south hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The petition, signed by 300 prominent cultural figures, was sent to UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay a day before a special session in Paris to consider listing Lebanese cultural sites under “enhanced protection.”
It urges UNESCO to protect Baalbek and other heritage sites by establishing “no-target zones” around them, deploying international observers, and enforcing measures from the 1954 Hague Convention on cultural heritage in conflict.
“Lebanon’s cultural heritage at large is being endangered by recurrent assaults on ancient cities such as Baalbek, Tyre, and Anjar, all UNESCO world heritage sites, as well as other historic landmarks,” says the petition.
It calls on influential states to push for an end to military action that destroys or damages sites, as well as adding protections or introducing sanctions.
Change Lebanon, the charity behind the petition, said signatories included museum curators, academics, archeologists, and writers in Britain, France, Italy, and the US.
Enhanced protection status gives heritage sites “high-level immunity from military attacks,” according to UNESCO.
“Criminal prosecutions and sanctions, conducted by the competent authorities, may apply in cases where individuals do not respect the enhanced protection granted to a cultural property,” it said.
In Baalbek, Israeli strikes on Nov. 6 hit near the city’s Roman temples, according to authorities, destroying a heritage house dating back to the French mandate and damaging the historic site.
The region’s governor said “a missile fell in the car park” of a 1,000-year-old temple, the closest strike since the start of the war.
The ruins host the prestigious Baalbek Festival each year, a landmark event founded in 1956 and now a fixture on the international cultural scene, featuring performances by music legends like Oum Kalthoum, Charles Aznavour and Ella Fitzgerald.
