Most Schools Reopen in Jordan amid COVID-19 Spike

Refugee students gesture as they learn how to sanitize their hands on the first day of school, amid fears of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Amman, Jordan September 1, 2020. (Reuters)
Refugee students gesture as they learn how to sanitize their hands on the first day of school, amid fears of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Amman, Jordan September 1, 2020. (Reuters)
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Most Schools Reopen in Jordan amid COVID-19 Spike

Refugee students gesture as they learn how to sanitize their hands on the first day of school, amid fears of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Amman, Jordan September 1, 2020. (Reuters)
Refugee students gesture as they learn how to sanitize their hands on the first day of school, amid fears of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Amman, Jordan September 1, 2020. (Reuters)

Nearly two million children returned to school in Jordan on Tuesday after a five month-absence, although authorities were forced to suspend teaching in some areas due to a spike in cases of COVID-19, officials said.

Several schools for Palestinian refugees and state schools were closed in some neighborhoods of the capital, Amman, after cases doubled in the city of 3 million in recent days.

Authorities hesitated in the last fortnight over reopening schools on Sept. 1 after the country saw over 600 cases within just a week, its highest number of infections since March.

UNRWA, the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said at least 115,000 pupils returned to its schools on Tuesday. Classes have been split with half the children attending school the other half learning at home in rotation.

Lessons in a refugee camp near the city of Madaba were suspended after a woman tested positive, officials said.

Although the kingdom has fared better than most Middle Eastern countries with only 2,034 cases and just 15 deaths, the recent uptick has brought fears Jordan could be on the verge of a new wave.

The spike has prompted the authorities this week to toughen a nationwide overnight curfew, close a main border crossing with Syria and postpone the opening of the country’s airport for regular commercial flights.

Although many were happy at schools reopening some parents remained anxious despite measures such as compulsory face masks and social distancing.

“I am very concerned to be honest, the decision (to return to school) with the rising number of cases in the past ten days, worries me,” said parent Mahmoud Farfora.

Financial concerns as a result of the pandemic have forced parents to withdraw at least 40,000 pupils from private schools that educate almost half the country’s school children, leaving teachers in the sector suffering redundancies and wage cuts.



Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Lebanon's central bank has banned banks and brokerages from dealing with a Hezbollah-affiliated financial institution, according to a circular, a sign of the group's diminished sway over state affairs since its devastating war with Israel.

Keeping up military pressure on the Iran-backed group, Israel on Tuesday launched some of its heaviest airstrikes since a ceasefire in November, saying it hit training camps and weapons depots in east Lebanon. A security source in Lebanon said 12 people were killed, five of them Hezbollah fighters, Reuters reported.

Hezbollah has faced mounting pressures since the war, including financial ones.

In the circular, dated July 14 and reviewed by Reuters, Banque du Liban prohibited all licensed financial institutions in Lebanon from dealing directly or indirectly with unlicensed entities and listed Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hassan as an example.

The US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on Al-Qard Al-Hassan in 2007, saying Hezbollah used it as a cover to manage "financial activities and gain access to the international financial system".

Bolstered by its powerful arsenal, Hezbollah had long exercised decisive influence over Lebanese state affairs, but it was unable to impose its will in the formation of a post-war government in February.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, founded in 1983, describes itself as a charitable organisation which provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest. Israel struck some of its branches during its war with Hezbollah last year.

Operating as a not-for-profit organisation under a licence granted by the Lebanese government, it has more than 30 branches, mostly in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

SHADOW ECONOMY

A Lebanese official said the central bank move had been in the works for months, and reflected US pressure on Lebanon to take action against Hezbollah's financial wing.

Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank, said Lebanese banks were already careful to avoid dealing with Al-Qard Al-Hassan because it is under US sanctions.

"The important point is that finally the authorities are addressing the shadow economy in Lebanon, which is the real problem," he said, adding that authorities had long failed to address its "toxic effects".

In June, the European Commission included Lebanon in an updated list of high-risk jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.

Last year, global financial crime watchdog FATF placed Lebanon on its "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny.