Portrait of Poverty as UN Visits Lebanon's Tripoli, Mediterranean's Poorest City

A home in the Hay al-Tanak shanty town on the outskirts of Lebanon’s Tripoli, where families can barely get enough electricity to keep their refrigerator and one lightbulb on. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
A home in the Hay al-Tanak shanty town on the outskirts of Lebanon’s Tripoli, where families can barely get enough electricity to keep their refrigerator and one lightbulb on. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
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Portrait of Poverty as UN Visits Lebanon's Tripoli, Mediterranean's Poorest City

A home in the Hay al-Tanak shanty town on the outskirts of Lebanon’s Tripoli, where families can barely get enough electricity to keep their refrigerator and one lightbulb on. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
A home in the Hay al-Tanak shanty town on the outskirts of Lebanon’s Tripoli, where families can barely get enough electricity to keep their refrigerator and one lightbulb on. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

After patiently waiting in line, Umm Mustafa extended two grubby plastic containers to a soup kitchen volunteer, who ladled in rice and stewed greens. It would be the only meal the unemployed single mother and her three sons would eat that day.

"I'm already broke and in debt. So for the last year, I've come here every day just to get enough to eat," said the 40-year-old, gesturing to the outdoor soup kitchen in Mina, a coastal strip along the northwestern edges of Lebanon's poorest city, Tripoli.

Wearing a second-hand medical mask secured with one handle - torn - she asked that her nickname, "Mustafa's mother", be used instead of her full name.

"Mina used to be so beautiful. Now this poverty and unemployment has ripped it apart," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Last week, the United Nations' special rapporteur on poverty Olivier de Schutter visited Tripoli as part of a fact-finding mission to Lebanon, whose economic meltdown was ranked by the World Bank has one of the worst since the industrial revolution.

De Schutter had previously served as special rapporteur on the right to food, and the Lebanon trip was only his second on the job after he investigated poverty in Europe.

Once hailed as the country's industrial powerhouse, Tripoli has been reduced to the most impoverished city along the entire Mediterranean coast - even before the current crisis set in, according to UN Habitat.

De Schutter told the Thomson Reuters Foundation he heard "moving" testimony during his day-trip - and feared the city's decline could be the canary in Lebanon's coalmine.

"This city is a concise statement of Lebanon as a whole - an attempt to stitch the scars of the civil war and to live in harmonious relationships across communities despite the economic crisis," de Schutter said.

"I'm watching the impacts the crisis is having on these inter-communal relationships - and Tripoli is a place that should be watched very carefully."

'How many more?'

Few can trace Tripoli's decline as closely as Robert Ayoub, who founded the Maeddat al-Mahhabe soup kitchen that served as de Schutter's first stop in the northern city.

In 2018, Ayoub ran into a former work mate from Tripoli's Port Authority, overshadowed by a fast-expanding port in Beirut.

The city's oil refinery had also stopped functioning, as had the rail line linking it north to Syria and south to the rest of Lebanon. An influx of Syrian refugees fleeing conflict next door meant competition for low-skilled jobs.

By the time Ayoub ran into his old colleague, Tripoli's urban poverty rate sat at 58%, according to UN Habitat, meaning every other resident lived below the poverty line.

"His life had been turned upside down, and he was picking through trash to find recyclable scraps to sell," said Ayoub, who immediately opened Maedat al-Mahhabe to serve about 45 free meals a day, mostly to ex-colleagues turned scrap collectors.

Even before the crisis, less than three-quarters of Tripoli households ate three meals a day, according to the Food & Agricultural Organization - the lowest rate across Lebanon.

Food insecurity has only been aggravated by Lebanon's economic crisis, which has seen the lira lose more than 90% of its value and food prices skyrocket by more than 600%, according to the World Food Program.

Maedat al-Mahhabe now distributes 700 meals, a service the UN called "the ultimate safety net against food poverty."

Yet Ayoub isn't sure how much longer he can hold out and fears the queue for free food will only lengthen.

The kitchen relies on donations, and Ayoub says his diners are selling off their last goods - from empty gas cylinders to washing machines to carpets - to afford electricity or water.

"What do these people do four or five months down the line? Their wedding rings and two pieces of gold jewelry were already sold a long time ago. How many more numbers will we be able to host in these coming months?" he said.

Scraps

Just a few hundred meters away lies Hay al-Tanak, a shanty town where many residents compete for scraps to earn a living.

The state grid provides just two hours power a day, so "privileged" residents paid for a private generator to get enough power to also fire up a television or a few lamps.

"I can't afford a generator to make up the difference," said Ahmed Ayyash, a 30-year-old resident who lives in a one-room shack with his wife and toddler.

Ayyash searches for scraps along the coast from 4am until 1pm, then again from 9pm until 2am, earning about 50,000 Lebanese pounds a day - the equivalent of $2.40. The tide brings in anything from plastic bottles to sheets of wood.

Slums are scattered across Tripoli, offering sub-par housing to the most vulnerable in Hay al-Tanak, Mankoubin and Wadi al-Nahle - all visited by de Schutter.

He passed residents sitting in the dark in one-room shacks.

Stained mattresses were propped upright to dry after a rainy weekend - and this was before Lebanon's wet winter descends.

In its 2017 report, UN Habitat said the need for social housing was "nowhere greater nationally than in Tripoli's urban area" - but the neighborhoods have seen little to no investment.

Magnified Misery

Yet some of Lebanon's ultra-rich also come from Tripoli.

Forbes' 2021 rich list includes six billionaires from Lebanon. The top two - Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his brother, Taha Mikati - hail from Tripoli and own properties in Mina, near the soup kitchen and Hay al-Tanak.

After Lebanon's civil war, investments poured into Beirut and its suburbs - but the "peripheral" northern regions were left out, explained Adib Nehme, a local expert on poverty and development who spent more than a decade at the UN.

"This is not a city with poor pockets like Beirut - this is a poor city with wealth pockets," said Nehme.

Tripoli was particularly vulnerable to the devastation wrought by Lebanon's financial crisis, said Khalid Abu Ismail, who heads the economic development and poverty department at the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

"The story that you see across the rest of the country has been magnified in Tripoli," he said.

Few Tripolitans have faith in the future.

When de Schutter told a group of men and women he would carry their concerns to the government, many visibly scoffed.

"How about you just take us with you when you leave?" one called out.



A Week Into the Fragile Israel-Iran Peace Agreement, Here's What We Still Don't Know

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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A Week Into the Fragile Israel-Iran Peace Agreement, Here's What We Still Don't Know

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

It's been a week since the United States pressed Israel and Iran into a truce, ending a bloody, 12-day conflict that had set the Middle East and globe on edge.

The fragile peace, brokered by the US the day after it dropped 30,000-pound "bunker-busting" bombs on three of Iran's key nuclear sites, is holding. But much remains unsettled, The Associated Press reported.

How badly Iran’s nuclear program was set back remains murky. The prospects of renewed US-Iran peace talks are up in the air. And whether US President Donald Trump can leverage the moment to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's government and Hamas focused on a ceasefire and hostage deal that brings about an end to the 20-month war in Gaza remains an open question.

Here is a look at what we still don't know:

How far Iran's nuclear program has been set back Trump says three targets hit by American strikes were “obliterated.” His defense secretary said they were “destroyed.”

A preliminary report issued by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, meanwhile, said the strikes did significant damage to the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan sites, but did not totally destroy the facilities.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the three Iranian sites with “capabilities in terms of treatment, conversion and enrichment of uranium have been destroyed to an important degree.” But, he added, “some is still standing” and that because capabilities remain, “if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.” He said assessing the full damage comes down to Iran allowing inspectors access.

What future US-Iran relations might look like

After the ceasefire deal came together, Trump spoke of potentially easing decades of biting sanctions on Tehran and predicted that Iran could become a “great trading nation” if it pulled back once-and-for-all from its nuclear program.

The talk of harmony didn't last long.

Ali Khamenei, in his first public appearance after the ceasefire was announced, claimed Tehran had delivered a “slap to America’s face." Trump responded by suggesting the supreme leader own up to the fact Iran “got beat to hell. The president also said he was backing off reviewing any immediate sanction relief, because of Khamenei's heated comments.

White House officials say the US and Iran are already in early discussions about resuming negotiations that had ended after Israel began launching strikes. But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says there's no agreement in place to restart talks.

It's unclear if Iran's leadership is ready to come to the table so soon after the fighting has ended — especially if Trump holds to the position that Iran must give up nuclear enrichment for even civilian use. And Trump has offered conflicting statements about his commitment to talks. “We may sign an agreement,” he said Wednesday at a NATO summit press conference. He added, “I don’t think it’s that necessary.”

What role Iran's supreme leader will play

Khamenei's age and recent diminished appearance have raised questions about the scope of his involvement in US-Iran relations and Iran's response to both American and Israeli strikes. But despite having spent the last few weeks in a bunker as threats to his life escalated, there is little indication that Khamenei does not still reign supreme over the country's massive military and governmental operations.

Khamenei has ruled three times longer than his predecessor, the late Ruhollah Khomeini, and has shaped life for the country's more than 90 million people perhaps even more dramatically.

He entrenched the system of rule by the “mullahs,” or Shiite Muslim clerics. That secured his place in the eyes of hard-liners as the unquestionable authority, below only that of God. At the same time, Khamenei built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the dominant force in Iran’s military and internal politics.

How Iran might strike back Iran's retaliatory missile attacks on a US base in Qatar following the American bombardment were sloughed off by the White House as a half-hearted, face-saving measure. The US was forewarned and the salvos were easily fended off.

Yet Iran remains a persistent threat, particularly via cyberwarfare. Hackers backing Tehran have already targeted US banks, defense contractors and oil industry companies — but so far have not caused widespread disruptions to critical infrastructure or the economy.

The US Department of Homeland Security last week issued a public bulletin warning of increased Iranian cyber threats. And the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is urging organizations that operate critical infrastructure like water systems, pipelines or power plants to stay vigilant.

Whether the Israel-Iran ceasefire will hold It remains a fragile peace.

Immediately following the US strikes, Trump got on the phone with Netanyahu and told the Israeli leader not to expect further US offensive military action, according to a senior White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive diplomatic talks.

But even as he agreed to deal, Netanyahu made clear that Israel will strike again “if anyone in Iran tries to revive this project.”

The ceasefire deal came without any agreement from Tehran on dismantling its nuclear program. Khamenei claims the attacks “did nothing significant” to Iran's nuclear facilities.

Trump expressed confidence that Iran, at the moment, has no interest in getting its nuclear program back up. “The last thing they’re thinking about right now is enriched uranium,” Trump said.

Still, Trump says he expects Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify that it doesn’t restart its nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, or some other organization "that we respect, including ourselves.”

Whether Trump can now press Netanyahu on Gaza

The president took a big gamble with his decision to order strikes on Iran's nuclear fortress.

As a candidate, he promised to quickly end Russia's brutal war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, but has failed to find a resolution to either. He also vowed to keep the US military out of foreign conflicts.

But after helping Israel with US strikes on Iran, Trump — in conversations with Netanyahu and other world leaders in recent days — has made clear he wants a deal completed soon, according to two people familiar with the private discussions and were not authorized to comment publicly.

On Friday, Trump told reporters, “We think within the next week we’re going to get a ceasefire.”

Trump didn't offer any further explanation for his optimism. But Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is expected to be in Washington this week for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other matters, according to an official familiar with the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.