BEIRUT: Bakhaoun, Lebanon, has been shocked by the news that five members of the same family from the town have died from COVID-19 in the last six weeks.
Abed Al-Jaleel Al-Samad, his wife Aisha and their youngest son Fady, 52, who worked for the Lebanese State Security, died from the virus in mid-October, while Fady’s older brother Bassam died on Oct. 27, and their brother Shadi died in hospital on Friday. Their sister has been undergoing treatment in a Tripoli hospital for the last month.
Bakhaoun is one of the most populous towns in Lebanon’s Dannieh district, with 15,000 people in an area of eight square kilometers. Despite strict lockdown measures, there have been 50 cases of COVID-19 in the town, including 25 cases in the Al-Samad family alone.
Lebanon will enter its second week of a nationwide lockdown on Saturday. The measures are set to continue until the end of November in an attempt to lower the number of active cases, and reduce the strain on hospitals, which had reached capacity.
However, there have been thousands of curfew violations in the country — with a total of 19,245 fines issued up to Friday morning — and Thursday saw a record number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 — 1,900, bringing the country’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 111,905, with 868 deaths.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the highest number of deaths has occurred in the over-80 age group (252 deaths). Fifty-five people aged between 40 and 49 have died, 17 between 30 and 39, and eight between 20 and 29.
The caretaker government’s Minister of Health Hamad Hassan said “The ministry’s available operational data and statistics do not indicate tangible improvement in reducing the number of cases” and called on the Lebanese people to be patient and commit to following protective measures.
He also said the Ministry of Health had finalized an agreement with private hospitals to receive COVID-19 patients which will see those hospitals reimbursed for treatment given.
The President of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals, Suleiman Haroun, confirmed in a statement that private hospitals will gradually start receiving patients “after the compromise reached with the Health Ministry which covers their expenses, since treating coronavirus patients is very costly compared to other patients.”
Lebanon’s fight against the coronavirus coincides with a severe economic crisis, the alleviation of which depends on implementing reforms requested by the international community and the resumption of talks with the International Monetary Fund.
On Friday, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni was informed by Alvarez & Marsal that the consultancy has decided to void the contract it signed with the Finance Ministry for a forensic audit of Lebanon’s Central Bank.
The consultancy agreed a week ago to extend the contract for three months, to give the bank time to provide the necessary information. But the bank has claimed that it cannot do so because of “bank secrecy laws.”
Alvarez & Marsal said its decision was taken because it is not certain it will be allowed access to the necessary information “even if (the bank is) given three additional months to deliver the documents required.”
Five members of Lebanese family dead from COVID-19
https://arab.news/jfv8k
Five members of Lebanese family dead from COVID-19
- According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the highest number of deaths has occurred in the over-80 age group
- There have been thousands of curfew violations in the country — with a total of 19,245 fines issued up to Friday
Israel attacks southern Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
- Lebanon insists on return of residents to border villages as a prerequisite for discussing any economic zone
BEIRUT: Two people, including a Hezbollah member, were killed, and more than five others injured on Sunday in Israeli airstrikes carried out without warning on towns in southern Lebanon and the northern Bekaa Valley.
The attacks came while the Mechanism Committee, monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, is experiencing “temporary paralysis.”
The date of its next meeting has yet to be confirmed, following the postponement of a session scheduled for Jan. 14 without a clear explanation.
Israeli airstrikes targeted the towns of Bir Al-Salasel, Khirbet Selm, Kfar Dunin, Barish, and Bazouriye, as well as the vicinity of the Nabi Sheet and Janta towns in the northern Bekaa.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed the fatality and injuries, while an Israeli military spokesperson said that the army attacked Hezbollah members working at a site used for producing weapons.
The strikes targeted a building where Hezbollah members were operating in the Bir Al-Salasel area in southern Lebanon. The building was being used to produce weapons, the spokesman said.
The Israeli army claimed that its airstrikes on the northern Bekaa targeted “Hezbollah military infrastructure,” adding that the “Hezbollah members’ activity at the targeted sites constitutes a violation of the agreements between Israel and Lebanon and poses a threat to Israel.”
The Mechanism Committee, headed by US Gen. Joseph Clearfield and tasked with monitoring the implementation of the cessation-of-hostilities agreement between Israel and Lebanon, is expected to resume its meetings on Feb. 25.
The committee leadership has not officially confirmed the date, which remains under discussion among its members.
An official Lebanese source told Arab News: “The failure of the Mechanism Committee to convene on Jan. 14, following two meetings that were held on Dec. 3 and 19 in Ras Al-Naqoura, indicates the existence of a crisis.”
The source said that “during the two previous meetings, Lebanon insisted on its two demands for the return of residents to border villages from which they were displaced and where their homes were destroyed, as well as the reconstruction of these villages. These two clauses constitute the foundation upon which negotiations must be built.”
The same source, who is involved in the Mechanism Committee’s meetings, said that “Lebanon’s only gateway for addressing the Israeli envoy’s proposition regarding the establishment of a border economic zone similar to a buffer zone is that the border villages must be inhabited by their residents from the Lebanese perspective. This condition cannot be overlooked under any circumstances.”
The source said that “this was discussed with the US side, in particular, and the statement issued by the US on Dec. 19 regarding the negotiations and the progress made by the Lebanese army south of the Litani River presented acceptable evidence that Lebanon is now at the heart of the negotiations.”
The source added: “Lebanon called on the Mechanism Committee to issue a statement endorsing the Lebanese army’s success in extending its control south of the Litani River, including acknowledgment from the Israeli side.
“However, through the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel only issued a statement referring to positives and negatives."
Last week, Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber confirmed to Arab News, in a special interview from Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, that “the proposal to transform the Lebanese border area into an economic zone was immediately rejected.”
The official Lebanese source attributed the reasons for the postponement of the latest Mechanism meeting to “a structural flaw within the committee, and to a crisis affecting the American delegation related to regional and international developments, in addition to an American-Israeli desire to exclude the French representative.”
The official source spoke of two dilemmas: “There is an Israeli enemy persisting in its violations of the agreement and in its attacks on Lebanon.
“On the other hand, the Israeli side submits evidence to the Mechanism Committee, including documents, photos, and videos, regarding Hezbollah’s restoration of its capabilities, at a time when its Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, threatens civil war if Hezbollah’s weapons north of the Litani River are touched.”
The source added: “For its part, the Lebanese Army presents evidence and documentation of what it has accomplished south of the Litani. This means that the Lebanese Army is achieving what it is capable of achieving with flesh and blood. It is aware of the existence of remaining Hezbollah weapons depots and is pursuing them.”
The official source fears “a lack of progress in negotiations in light of all these documents, high-pitched statements, and the American complaint about the slow pace of negotiations.”
He added: “The positions of Hezbollah officials do not help Lebanon’s stance within the Mechanism Committee, particularly with regard to capacity building.”
The source said that “the adherence of the Hezbollah–Amal Movement duo to the Mechanism Committee does not mean their approval of any progress in negotiations.
“When Lebanon proposes expanding the Lebanese delegation to include, for example, a former minister, this constitutes horizontal expansion rather than the vertical expansion that would serve the negotiation process, which should involve specialized experts and technicians. Consequently, any collapse of the ‘Mechanism’ meetings would mean that Lebanon would be facing a very difficult moment.
“It appears that the history of Lebanese–Israeli negotiations is passing through its most dangerous phase today. The world is no longer negotiating with Lebanon solely over its rights, but over its ability to prevent war.”
The official source also stressed that the “Mechanism” constituted a fundamental point of intersection among the participating states despite the difficulties affecting its work.
He said: “The suspension of the committee’s work could be reflected in the issue of the exclusivity of weapons north of the Litani, as its absence would mean leaving matters without controls, pushing Lebanon into an even worse phase.”
The official source said that “raising the level of representation of the Lebanese delegation is not currently on the table, but it is an inevitable end that Lebanon may reach according to the logic of events.”
Lebanon is counting on the anticipated visit of Army Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal to Washington early next month, and on the Paris conference scheduled for March 5, to secure further support for the plan to confine weapons north of the Litani River.
