Lebanese Leaders' Response to Reform Calls 'Disappointing', Says UN Official

A man, clad in a mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands amid debris on a balcony in the partially destroyed neighborhood of Mar Mikhael, Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 14, 2020. (AFP)
A man, clad in a mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands amid debris on a balcony in the partially destroyed neighborhood of Mar Mikhael, Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 14, 2020. (AFP)
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Lebanese Leaders' Response to Reform Calls 'Disappointing', Says UN Official

A man, clad in a mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands amid debris on a balcony in the partially destroyed neighborhood of Mar Mikhael, Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 14, 2020. (AFP)
A man, clad in a mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands amid debris on a balcony in the partially destroyed neighborhood of Mar Mikhael, Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 14, 2020. (AFP)

Warnings by Western officials over the need for reforms in Lebanon had often been met with disappointing responses by the country’s political leaders, a senior United Nations official said on Monday following this month’s Beirut port explosion.

US and French officials visiting the city after the Aug. 4 blast that killed 178 people said they had made clear they would not extend a financial lifeline to the country if its leaders did not tackle corruption and mismanagement.

The officials were representing the International Support Group (ISG) for Lebanon which includes the United Nations, the United States, France and Britain.

“With grave concerns ISG Ambassadors today discussed the deepening overall crisis in Lebanon,” tweeted Jan Kubis, UN special coordinator for Lebanon.

He said tough warnings had been delivered to the authorities and political leaders and their responses had often been rather disappointing.

“Expectations of the international community are well known - without urgent reforms that require broad political support Lebanon cannot count on any bailout,” he tweeted.

The call echoes others from Western powers, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US Undersecretary for Political Affairs David Hale, who both visited Beirut. Hale said Lebanon needed “economic and fiscal reforms, an end to dysfunctional governance and to empty promises”.

The detonation of highly-explosive material stored unsafely for years at the port injured 6,000, left 300,000 homeless and destroyed whole neighborhoods.

The now-caretaker cabinet on Monday extended a state of emergency in the capital until Sept. 18.

The government resigned amid renewed protests against ruling politicians blamed for a financial crisis that developed even before the blast, that ravaged the currency, saw banks freeze depositors out of their savings and sent unemployment soaring.

Analysts estimate that after the explosion that wrecked the port, a main trade artery, Lebanon’s external financing needs swelled to more than $30 billion from $24 billion.

The outgoing government, which took office in January with the backing of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies, had not made progress in talks with the International Monetary Fund launched after Lebanon defaulted on foreign currency debt.

Forming a new government is likely to be complicated due to factional rifts in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.



UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon Say they Observed Israeli Army Destroying Residential Areas

 This picture taken on October 13, 2024 during a controlled embed organised by the Israeli military, shows Israeli troops patrolling in the southern Lebanon's Naqoura region near the border. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
This picture taken on October 13, 2024 during a controlled embed organised by the Israeli military, shows Israeli troops patrolling in the southern Lebanon's Naqoura region near the border. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
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UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon Say they Observed Israeli Army Destroying Residential Areas

 This picture taken on October 13, 2024 during a controlled embed organised by the Israeli military, shows Israeli troops patrolling in the southern Lebanon's Naqoura region near the border. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
This picture taken on October 13, 2024 during a controlled embed organised by the Israeli military, shows Israeli troops patrolling in the southern Lebanon's Naqoura region near the border. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon on Monday said it has observed recent “concerning actions” by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, including the destruction of residential areas and road blockages.
A spokesperson for the peacekeeping mission, Kandice Ardiel, told The Associated Press that peacekeepers also observed on Monday an Israeli flag flying in Lebanese territory near Naqoura. The town hosts the headquarters of the peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL.
Under the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli army is required to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon within 60 days of the agreement’s signing on Nov. 27.
Since the ceasefire went into effect, the Israeli army has conducted near-daily military operations in southern villages, including firing gunshots, house demolitions, excavations, tank shelling and strikes. These actions have killed at least 27 people, wounded more than 30, destroyed residential buildings and, in one case, a mosque.
“Peacekeepers continue to monitor the situation on the ground and report violations of Resolution 1701,” Ardiel said. “We reiterate our call for all actors to cease and refrain from violations of Resolution 1701 and any actions that may upset the current delicate balance.”
On Monday, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati visited the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Khiam as part of a tour of front-line areas alongside army chief Joseph Aoun and UNIFIL Head of Mission Aroldo Lazaro. Mikati and Lazaro urged the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory to allow the army to fully assume its duties.