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Arab league Chief Voices Concern over Palestinian Prisoners amid Coronavirus

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Rome Mediterranean summit MED 2018 in Rome, Italy November 22, 2018. (Reuters)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Rome Mediterranean summit MED 2018 in Rome, Italy November 22, 2018. (Reuters)
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Arab league Chief Voices Concern over Palestinian Prisoners amid Coronavirus

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Rome Mediterranean summit MED 2018 in Rome, Italy November 22, 2018. (Reuters)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Rome Mediterranean summit MED 2018 in Rome, Italy November 22, 2018. (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit sent a letter to Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross Robert Mardini about the danger facing Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails because of the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Aboul Gheit said Monday that the conditions of nearly 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons are "serious". A large number of prisoners, including elderly, sick and those with low immunity, are the most vulnerable to the COVID-19, he underlined.

He also highlighted the lack of specialized doctors and necessary medical equipment to aid patients, in addition to the shortage of ventilators and disinfectants.

Abul Gheit expressed regret that Israel had taken a decision to release some Israeli criminal prisoners, while excluding Palestinians. This violates humanitarian and international law stipulated in the Fourth Geneva Convention.

He appealed to the ICRC chief to do "all in his capacity" to pressure the Israeli government to review its policies towards the prisoners and to take an immediate decision to release those who are most at risk of infection to avoid an "impending humanitarian catastrophe."

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Rising Discontent Within Hezbollah’s Support Base over Delayed War Compensation

A girl reacts near a poster of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at the site damaged by an Israeli airstrike that killed the Hezbollah leader, after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in Dahieh, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A girl reacts near a poster of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at the site damaged by an Israeli airstrike that killed the Hezbollah leader, after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in Dahieh, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Rising Discontent Within Hezbollah’s Support Base over Delayed War Compensation

A girl reacts near a poster of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at the site damaged by an Israeli airstrike that killed the Hezbollah leader, after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in Dahieh, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A girl reacts near a poster of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at the site damaged by an Israeli airstrike that killed the Hezbollah leader, after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in Dahieh, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Hezbollah has been eager to assure its popular base that it would pay compensation fees for the losses incurred by the war with Israel, but delays in payments and a climate of favoritism has gradually begun to spread among its supporters.
Although some of the party’s inner circle are keen to avoid criticism in public, others have openly expressed resentment on social media pertaining to the way compensation is being distributed compared to the losses suffered by the people of the South, the Bekaa, and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
That, however, has pushed Hezbollah’s leadership to issue a statement on Monday that compensation for restoration and reconstruction continues based on some technical and logistical details it is working with.
Since a ceasefire went into effect on November 27, Hezbollah Secretary-General, Naeem Qassem, had declared the party’s commitment to providing housing allowances for a period of one year for those whose homes were destroyed. At the same time, the party shifted the responsibility for reconstruction compensation to the Lebanese government.
Housing Allowances and Compensations Ruled by Partiality
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, S.Abdullah, who now lives in a rented house in Beirut, said he has not received “a single dollar” from Hezbollah so far in compensation for his destroyed house in Khiam and another one largely devastated in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Speaking of favoritism he said: “Only party members are receiving the funds and anyone not affiliated with Hezbollah is being ignored, with no benefit from applying on this platform or that”, noting that his parents, brother and sister have also been ignored any compensation so far.
“We are managing our rental payments. But it is unacceptable that we be dragged into war and then promised compensation, only to see that favoritism rules...There are no longer any leaders in the party. Chaos controls the management of affairs, where money is being embezzled”.
Abdullah affirms that his words reflect the sentiments of most of the people in his town and the neighboring villages, “even though some do not dare to speak openly about this issue.
“Clearly the next phase will not be like before regarding Hezbollah’s popular base. Many things have changed and those will show in the future”, Abdullah concluded.
Conditions to Repair Homes before Payments Pose Burden on Low-income Homeowners
Moreover, requirements posed by Hezbollah that houses destroyed or damaged by war be repaired first by homeowners in order to receive compensation has become a burden for many low-income individuals who have no savings.
“My husband’s income is no more than 400 dollars. How can that be enough for us to eat, pay expenses, school tuition fees for my daughter and son, and also pay for the reconstruction”, one woman told the daily.
Another woman, Samia, whose house in south Lebanon was destroyed, said the housing allowance she receives from the party is insufficient to rent a home due to the rise in rental prices.
“I used to pay $300 for rent before the war. Today rent is between $600 and $700, if a house is even available”, she told the daily.
Samia however rejected accusations of betrayal made by some of Hezbollah’s popular base against those expressing concerns. “They shouldn't lecture us, as we have always supported the cause, but it is also our right to express our suffering”, she exclaimed.