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Lebanon Army Receives Additional $20 Mln from Qatar in Support to Troops

27 June 2024, Lebanon, Jounieh: Lebanese army soldiers from the airborne brigade secure an area as medics help civilians acting as dead and injured of an attack during a drill carried by the Lebanese army, Red Cross and Civil defense in the town of Jounieh, north of Beirut. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
27 June 2024, Lebanon, Jounieh: Lebanese army soldiers from the airborne brigade secure an area as medics help civilians acting as dead and injured of an attack during a drill carried by the Lebanese army, Red Cross and Civil defense in the town of Jounieh, north of Beirut. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
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Lebanon Army Receives Additional $20 Mln from Qatar in Support to Troops

27 June 2024, Lebanon, Jounieh: Lebanese army soldiers from the airborne brigade secure an area as medics help civilians acting as dead and injured of an attack during a drill carried by the Lebanese army, Red Cross and Civil defense in the town of Jounieh, north of Beirut. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
27 June 2024, Lebanon, Jounieh: Lebanese army soldiers from the airborne brigade secure an area as medics help civilians acting as dead and injured of an attack during a drill carried by the Lebanese army, Red Cross and Civil defense in the town of Jounieh, north of Beirut. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa

The Lebanese army has received an additional $20 million from Qatar in support of Lebanese troops, Lebanon's state agency NNA said on Monday.

The support comes at a crucial time, with the Israeli military and Hezbollah trading fire across Lebanon's southern border in parallel with the Gaza war. The Lebanese army is not involved in the hostilities but one Lebanese soldier was killed by Israeli shelling in December.

A security source told Reuters that the new Qatari aid was a continuation of an earlier
$60 million package announced in 2022 that was distributed in installments to soldiers to support their salaries.

The source said $100 would be distributed to each soldier every month.

A five-year economic meltdown has slashed the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar, driving down most soldiers' wages to less than $100 per month.

The amount is barely enough to afford a basic subscription to a generator service that could offset the 22-hour cuts in the state electricity grid.

To supplement their low salaries, many troops have taken extra jobs and some have quit, raising concerns that the institution - one of few in Lebanon that can rally national pride and create unity across its fractured sectarian communities - could be fraying.

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Iran to Support Hezbollah Militarily if Israel Launches War on Lebanon

An Israeli firefighter works to extinguish fires ignited by missiles launched by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon (Reuters)
An Israeli firefighter works to extinguish fires ignited by missiles launched by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon (Reuters)
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Iran to Support Hezbollah Militarily if Israel Launches War on Lebanon

An Israeli firefighter works to extinguish fires ignited by missiles launched by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon (Reuters)
An Israeli firefighter works to extinguish fires ignited by missiles launched by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon (Reuters)

Iran announced its readiness to support Hezbollah militarily in the event that Israel launches a large-scale war on Lebanon.

An advisor to the Iranian leader, Kamal Kharrazi, said that his country “will do its best to support [Hezbollah] if Israel launched a large-scale war against Lebanon,” the official Lebanese National News Agency reported.

In response to a question on whether Iran would support the party militarily in case of a large-scale conflict erupting in Lebanon, Kharrazi, who also serves as head of the Iranian Strategic Council for International Relations, indicated that “in such a case, Tehran will not have any other option.”

He continued: “We will have no choice but to support [Hezbollah] with all the means and capabilities available to us.”

The Iranian position comes in conjunction with Israeli threats to expand the war, and the Israeli army’s preparations in the north for a wide-scale confrontation in Lebanon.

“We are determined to continue fighting until the war goals of destroying the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, the return of the kidnappers, and the safe return of residents in the north and south to their homes are achieved,” the Israeli army said, adding: “We are strengthening preparations for war on the northern front against Hezbollah.”

However, these statements come in parallel with other leaks that suggest that the army was not ready for a large-scale war. An article published by the New York Times said that Israeli generals believe that their forces, which are “underequipped for further fighting after Israel’s longest war in decades... need time to recuperate in case a land war breaks out against Hezbollah.”

“A truce with Hamas could also make it easier to reach a deal with Hezbollah, according to the officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters,” the NY Times article read.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that a house in Kiryat Shmona was hit by projectiles fired from Lebanon, while Israeli attacks in South Lebanon killed a farmer who had remained in his town despite the onslaught.

The NNA said that an Israeli drone attacked the town of Taybeh in South Lebanon with three missiles, with one of them hitting an electricity transformer.