Lebanon Cabinet Fails to Select Successor to Central Bank Head

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with vice-governors of Lebanon's central bank and other officials, at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon July 26, 2023. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with vice-governors of Lebanon's central bank and other officials, at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon July 26, 2023. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanon Cabinet Fails to Select Successor to Central Bank Head

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with vice-governors of Lebanon's central bank and other officials, at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon July 26, 2023. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with vice-governors of Lebanon's central bank and other officials, at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon July 26, 2023. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

Lebanon's cabinet on Thursday failed to meet to choose a successor to long-time central bank governor Riad Salameh, meaning the bank could be leaderless from Monday as the country lurches towards a fifth year of financial turmoil.

Salameh, 72, leaves office on Monday after 30 years as governor with Lebanon's economy in tatters and facing charges of embezzling public funds, which he denies.

The looming prospect of a leadership vacuum at the central bank raises fears of further state fragmentation, and reflects wider divisions that have also left the presidency vacant and the country without a fully empowered cabinet for over a year, Reuters reported.

Caretaker premier Najib Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri have led efforts to name a new governor. However, Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement have rejected the moves, saying a caretaker cabinet had no right to take that step.

Thursday's cabinet session was cancelled minutes after it was set to start because there were not enough ministers to meet the quorum.

"Today, we had an opportunity to temporarily address a file related to the financial and monetary situation. Unfortunately, the political calculations of the concerned parties within the government have priority over others, so let each party bear responsibility for its decision," a statement by Mikati said.

According to Lebanon's code of money and credit, the first of four vice governors must take over when Salameh leaves office. But all four have threatened to resign if no successor is appointed.



Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 11 People in Northern Gaza

 Relatives mourn the death of Atef Al-Atout, a Palestinian man who his family said was shot dead as he fled Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip toward in Gaza City, in front of the al-Maamadani hospital on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
Relatives mourn the death of Atef Al-Atout, a Palestinian man who his family said was shot dead as he fled Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip toward in Gaza City, in front of the al-Maamadani hospital on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 11 People in Northern Gaza

 Relatives mourn the death of Atef Al-Atout, a Palestinian man who his family said was shot dead as he fled Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip toward in Gaza City, in front of the al-Maamadani hospital on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
Relatives mourn the death of Atef Al-Atout, a Palestinian man who his family said was shot dead as he fled Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip toward in Gaza City, in front of the al-Maamadani hospital on November 6, 2024. (AFP)

Palestinian medical officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 11 people in the northern Gaza Strip.

A strike hit a house in the northern town of Beit Lahia, killing at least six people from the same family, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service.

The dead include a mother and her three children, as well as the children’s grandmother and uncle, according to a list provided by the service.

In the urban refugee camp of Jabalia, al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of five men killed in an Israeli strike.

The military says it only targets fighters and tries to avoid harming civilians. It rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Israel has been waging a major offensive over the past month in northern Gaza, the most heavily destroyed and isolated part of the territory, where it says Hamas has regrouped.