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Lebanon Asks World Bank to Increase Amount of Vaccines Provided

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan held a meeting Thursday with the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at the World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jha (NNA)
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan held a meeting Thursday with the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at the World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jha (NNA)
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Lebanon Asks World Bank to Increase Amount of Vaccines Provided

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan held a meeting Thursday with the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at the World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jha (NNA)
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan held a meeting Thursday with the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at the World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jha (NNA)

Lebanon on Thursday asked the World Bank to increase its support for Lebanon in the various challenges, especially in terms of increasing the amount of COVID-19 vaccines that are being gradually delivered to the country.

The request was voiced by Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan during a meeting with the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at the World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jha, as they discussed the national vaccination plan against the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the Ministry said batches of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in Lebanon starting mid-March.

MP Assem Araji, head of the parliamentary health committee, expected a delay in reaching herd immunity against Covid-19 in Lebanon, especially after the rise in the number of infections over the citizens’ failure to adhere to preventive measures, as well as the state’s failure to aptly implement a gradual lifting of the lockdown.

Speaking to the National News Agency, the MP blamed the increase of daily COVID-19 infections on the limited number of vaccines reaching the country.

“The few batches of vaccines that have arrived in Lebanon do not meet the needs required to vaccinate the largest possible number of people,” he said.

Araji pointed out that the countries that produced the jabs preferred to start vaccinating their own people and that there were about 120 states that haven’t received vaccines yet.

“We are trying our best to import the largest number of vaccines, even with the help of private companies, but unfortunately, we have not succeeded," he explained, citing problems from the countries of origin.

The World Trade Organization has called on countries to pressure companies to increase their production of vaccines, and the UN Security Council has also issued a statement urging justice in distributing vaccines all over the world.

“If we can secure the required number of vaccines to vaccinate 85% of citizens and residents, we will be able to achieve herd immunity by the end of this year,” the deputy added.

Araji said some companies had applied to import vaccines and had received approval from the Ministry of Health, but the producing firms have not heeded their requests yet.

He finally called on citizens to "adhere to preventive measures so that we can control the pandemic,” noting that "the health sector is fully exhausted.”

In the past 24 hours, Lebanon registered 3,518 new coronavirus cases and 50 more deaths.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese authorities are working to prohibit any attempt to sell the COVID-19 vaccines on the black market.

Some private companies and pharmacies are promoting, through social media advertisements, the coronavirus vaccine using the logo of the Health Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said: “This is a true violation of the law." It warned the people not to trust such ads.

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Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
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Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 

The brief detention of Talal Naji, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), by Syrian authorities has renewed scrutiny over the status of Palestinian factions still operating in Syria, particularly those that aligned with the former Assad regime.

Naji’s arrest and swift release come amid a major political realignment following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. Once one of the most active and heavily armed Palestinian groups in Syria, the PFLP-GC now faces an uncertain future, along with other factions that were long tolerated—or even supported—under Assad’s rule.

A well-informed Palestinian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new Syrian administration has appointed a figure known as Abu Abdul Rahman al-Shami to oversee the file of Palestinian factions. Since assuming the role, al-Shami has convened multiple meetings with faction representatives, including regular attendees from the PFLP-GC, to discuss the fate of their fighters, weapons, property, and military infrastructure.

According to the source, al-Shami has made it clear that the new government intends to hold accountable any individuals or groups implicated in crimes against Syrian civilians during the civil war. Palestinian factions have been instructed to surrender all weapons and military equipment, and to limit their activities to humanitarian and relief work. The PFLP-GC, the source said, has largely complied.

Despite the fall of the Assad regime, Naji and much of the PFLP-GC’s second- and third-tier leadership have remained in Syria. Its offices in Damascus reportedly continue to operate, though under heightened scrutiny. Other faction leaders, however, have fled. Among them are Khaled Abdul Majid (Popular Struggle Front), Ziyad al-Saghir (Fatah–Intifada), Mohammad al-Saeed (Liwa al-Quds), and Saed Abdel Al (Free Palestine Movement). Most are believed to have sought refuge in Lebanon.

Sources confirmed that several PFLP-GC fighters have been detained in recent weeks in connection with alleged war crimes committed during their cooperation with Assad’s forces. The Syrian government has also moved to seize faction offices and military installations across the country, including properties belonging to Fatah–Intifada, the Free Palestine Movement, and the Sa’iqa Forces. Sa’iqa’s leader, Mohammad Qais, remains in Syria.

In a further blow, authorities have reportedly frozen bank accounts belonging to some Palestinian factions, both in state and private banks, although it remains unclear whether the PFLP-GC is among them.

Additionally, it is widely believed that the PFLP-GC has handed over its military training camps, which were previously spread across Damascus countryside, Daraa, Aleppo, and Suwayda. “The situation is extremely sensitive, and everyone is anxious,” one Palestinian source told Asharq Al-Awsat. “It’s likely they’ve surrendered those sites.”

The sense of unease deepened last month when Syrian authorities detained two senior Islamic Jihad officials in Damascus: Khaled Khaled, head of the group’s Syria bureau, and Abu Ali Yasser, its chief organizational officer. Both remain in custody, and no official charges have been announced.

The current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty has driven faction leaders to avoid public comment. Most now insist on anonymity when speaking to local or international media.

Before the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, Syria hosted more than a dozen Palestinian factions. As the conflict escalated, the Assad regime encouraged the formation of new pro-regime groups, composed largely of Palestinian refugees, to fight alongside its forces.