Lebanon's Banks to Reopen on Monday

People queue outside a bank in Tripoli, Lebanon November 1, 2019. (Reuters)
People queue outside a bank in Tripoli, Lebanon November 1, 2019. (Reuters)
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Lebanon's Banks to Reopen on Monday

People queue outside a bank in Tripoli, Lebanon November 1, 2019. (Reuters)
People queue outside a bank in Tripoli, Lebanon November 1, 2019. (Reuters)

Lebanon's banks will reopen on Monday, with each taking their own measures, the country's banking association said in a statement on Sunday.

The country's banks have shut for about five days following a spree of bank hold-ups by frustrated depositors seeking access to their frozen savings.

On September 16, several banks were held up in Lebanon, where commercial banks have locked most depositors out of their savings since an economic crisis took hold three years ago, leaving much of the population unable to pay for basics.

Lebanon's banks association announced a three-day closure over security concerns and urged the government to pass laws to deal with the crisis. The closure was extended later on.

Authorities have been slow to pass reforms that would grant access to $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund, and on Friday failed to pass a 2022 budget.

Without a capital controls law, banks have imposed unilateral limits on what most depositors can retrieve each week in US dollars or the Lebanese lira, which has lost more than 95% of its value since 2019.



Israeli Military: 5 Soldiers Killed in Combat in South Lebanon

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Israeli Military: 5 Soldiers Killed in Combat in South Lebanon

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 16 others wounded in combat in southern Lebanon in recent weeks, the Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday.

Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a speech aired Wednesday that the Lebanese group is open for ceasefire negotiations only once “the enemy stops its aggression.”

His speech marked the 40-day mourning period since former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,000 people have been killed and some 13,600 wounded in Lebanon, the Health Ministry reported.