Lebanon: Continued Closure of Banks Impedes Financial Transactions

Lebanese people in front of ATMs in Beirut (Reuters)
Lebanese people in front of ATMs in Beirut (Reuters)
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Lebanon: Continued Closure of Banks Impedes Financial Transactions

Lebanese people in front of ATMs in Beirut (Reuters)
Lebanese people in front of ATMs in Beirut (Reuters)

Charbel, a 34-year-old employee at an e-design company, fears that Lebanese banks will keep closed till early next month.

“We are eagerly awaiting our salary. Any continuation of the strike will not be in our favor,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that his family heavily depends on his salary that is being transferred from abroad.

Charbel shares his concerns with the tens of thousands of Lebanese who withdraw their salaries, at the beginning of each month, from ATMs.

For them, banks shutting down early this week did not necessarily affect their lives for the remainder of September. However, if continued, the banks going on strike for long could spell disaster in terms of denying them access to their livelihoods.

“Salary transfers will not reach our accounts,” warned Charbel.

“How will we therefore live and spend on our families?” he questioned.

Lebanese banks have started a strike since last Monday against the background of Lebanese depositors storming their branches to demand the release of their savings that were frozen three years ago.

While some depositors who staged raids succeeded in forcing banks to give back a portion of their frozen savings, others failed.

Lebanese authorities arrested some of the angry depositors. Nevertheless, this was not enough to convince the Association of Lebanese Banks that bank employees were safe.

It is noteworthy that banks in Lebanon are facing pressure from their employees who demand protection measures for their safety.

George al-Hajj, head of the bank employees’ union in Lebanon stated on Wednesday that the employees will not return to work if the bare minimum of security is not provided.

Despite the shutdown, ATMs are still operating normally.

Those who have a bank account can withdraw their money transfers from ATMs, given that banks are “filling the machines daily with paper money in order not to disrupt the lives of citizens during the procedural closure period,” banking sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.



Pedersen Says ‘Extremely Critical’ to Avoid Syria Being Dragged into War in Region

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
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Pedersen Says ‘Extremely Critical’ to Avoid Syria Being Dragged into War in Region

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)

The UN special envoy for Syria said on Sunday that it was “extremely critical” to end the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza to avoid the country being pulled into a regional war.

“We need now to make sure that we have immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, that we have a ceasefire in Lebanon, and that we avoid Syria being dragged even further into the conflict,” said Geir Pedersen ahead of a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has not released any details about the Pedersen-Sabbagh meeting. It only issued a brief statement in which it announced the meeting.

Local sources said Pedersen's second visit to Damascus this year is aimed at exploring the possibility of resuming the Constitutional Committee meetings aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis.

The meetings have been stalled since the eighth round on February 22, 2022, due to a dispute over the venue of the reconvening of the Constitutional Committee. Russia, which is not satisfied with Switzerland's joining Western sanctions against Moscow because of the Ukraine war, refuses to hold it in Geneva.

“Pedersen is holding talks with Syrian officials in Damascus, where he arrived last Wednesday, about the possibility of resuming the Constitutional Committee meetings,” reported Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper.

Earlier this month, Russian presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told TASS: “As you know, only one venue - Geneva - is still unacceptable for the Russian side. As for all others, we are ready to work there.”

He added: “Probably, there is an open option with Baghdad, which, regrettably, was rejected by the Syrian opposition. It refused from this venue because Baghdad is supporting Damascus. They don’t think that Iraq is a neutral venue.”

The Russian diplomat stressed that the committee’s work should be resumed as soon as possible, but, in his words, it takes a lot of effort to find a venue that would be acceptable for both Damascus and the Syrian opposition.

Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Syria against government forces, Iranian troops and Hezbollah targets since the eruption of the crisis there in 2011. Strikes have increased following the Israeli war on Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll of the Israeli airstrikes on Palmyra city on November 20 continues to increase with many people suffering from severe injuries.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the death of three Syrians and two non-Syrian members of Iranian-backed militias, bringing the number of fatalities to 105.