Aoun: Lebanon Is not on the Path of Bankruptcy

President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)
President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)
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Aoun: Lebanon Is not on the Path of Bankruptcy

President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)
President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)

President Michel Aoun warned against spreading negativity over the country’s economic situation and disseminating harmful rumors.

“The Lebanese pound is not in danger and Lebanon is not on the road to bankruptcy,” he said on Wednesday during a meeting at the Baabda Palace with a delegation of the Lions clubs, headed by Governor of the Region 351, which includes Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq.

The delegation visited the Baabda Palace to thank Aoun for patronizing the hand-over ceremony held recently, and to brief him on the Lions humanitarian activities and programs scheduled for 2018.

Addressing the delegation, the president said he hoped that the overall situation in Lebanon and the Arab countries would improve significantly, and peace would prevail.

“We in the Arab world are all living martyrs. Shrapnel of wars in the region has spread across Lebanon through terrorism and sleeping cells. We thank God that we have been able to establish internal security and fortify our borders. We are now at the point of addressing economic security after we were afflicted with many economic burdens. Rumors that the economic situation is on the brink of the abyss are not only false but also abhorrent,” Aoun stressed.

He noted that some political parties were working on spreading rumors “to derail the reform process that we have initiated.”

“We do not deny that there is a crisis, but we are dealing with it through the adoption of the state budget, which has not happened for nearly 11 years, as well as through the economic plan that we have set and through the CEDRE Conference,” the president said.



Hezbollah Urges Residents of More Than Two Dozen Israeli 'Settlements' to Evacuate

A view shows destroyed residential buildings in Rmeish in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sasa, northern Israel, October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
A view shows destroyed residential buildings in Rmeish in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sasa, northern Israel, October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
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Hezbollah Urges Residents of More Than Two Dozen Israeli 'Settlements' to Evacuate

A view shows destroyed residential buildings in Rmeish in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sasa, northern Israel, October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
A view shows destroyed residential buildings in Rmeish in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sasa, northern Israel, October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Lebanon's Hezbollah warned residents of more than two dozen Israeli "settlements" on Saturday to immediately evacuate, saying they had become legitimate targets because it said Israeli troops were stationed there.

Iran-backed Hezbollah issued its warning in a video.

The warning came after Israel's military eased some safety restrictions for residents in areas of northern Israel late on Saturday, a possible indication that it does not expect any immediate large-scale attack from Iran or its proxies in the region.

The decision followed a "situational assessment,” it said in a statement which made no mention of Israel's bombing of military sites in Iran in the early hours of Saturday, carried out in retaliation for an Iranian attack on Israel this month.

In areas closest to the border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah has for months been firing heavy barrages of rockets at Israel, schools can now open, as long as they have bomb shelters close by, the Israeli military said.

In towns a bit further from the border, nearer to the port city of Haifa, gatherings of up to 2,000 people are now permitted, it added.

Israel's military has tightened and eased restrictions for the home front over the past year, depending on its evolving assessment of the threat level.

In Saturday's attack on Iran, Israel did not target the most sensitive oil and nuclear facilities and drew no immediate vows of vengeance from Tehran.