Lebanon’s Crisis Imposes New Tasks on Security Forces

Shoppers walk past an empty shelf at a supermarket in Beirut. (Reuters)
Shoppers walk past an empty shelf at a supermarket in Beirut. (Reuters)
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Lebanon’s Crisis Imposes New Tasks on Security Forces

Shoppers walk past an empty shelf at a supermarket in Beirut. (Reuters)
Shoppers walk past an empty shelf at a supermarket in Beirut. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s severe economic crisis has imposed an unusual security reality, as security officers are now seen organizing the purchase of foodstuffs, and others standing at the doors of supermarkets where many disputes have erupted during the past weeks over the priority to buy subsidized products.

A video widely circulated on social media on Thursday showed a man screaming in a supermarket in the coastal city of Amshit in Mount Lebanon, in protest against allowing Syrians to receive subsidized food products. The man shouted that those, who do not have the Lebanese nationality, should be prevented from entering the supermarket. His remarks led to a dispute between Lebanese and Syrian refugees in the town.

Another video leaked last week showed security officers in a food store, asking people to present their ID cards in order to buy subsidized rice.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, MP Wehbi Qatisha said that the scene was “certainly a negative indicator of the current situation in Lebanon, due to poor management of crises, especially economic ones.”

“Instead of confronting major security risks, security officers are now dealing with disputes among citizens over oil or milk,” he said.

Other missions were granted to the security bodies in light of the deteriorating economic and social crisis.

The Directorate General of State Security was tasked with supervising the distribution of diesel fuel to stations in order to prevent monopoly or smuggling, while the Lebanese army was assigned the task of distributing financial aid, which the government granted to poor families, in addition to dispensing compensation to those affected by the Beirut port explosion.

According to a security source, such intervention is needed because the army and security bodies have the responsibility to safeguard civil peace and stability.



Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hezbollah said its fighters on Thursday fired missiles at a military base near south Israel’s Ashdod, the first time it has targeted so deep inside Israel in more than a year of hostilities.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted... for the first time, the Hatzor air base" east of the southern city, around 150 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, "with a missile salvo," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.
The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.
Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Israel has launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack on Israel last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.