Lebanon: Fuel Crisis Worsens Amid Warnings of 'Social Explosion'

Citizens protest against fuel shortage and power cuts, Beirut, February 28. (Photo: EPA)
Citizens protest against fuel shortage and power cuts, Beirut, February 28. (Photo: EPA)
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Lebanon: Fuel Crisis Worsens Amid Warnings of 'Social Explosion'

Citizens protest against fuel shortage and power cuts, Beirut, February 28. (Photo: EPA)
Citizens protest against fuel shortage and power cuts, Beirut, February 28. (Photo: EPA)

Lebanon’s fuel crisis has worsened during the past two days. Following a fuel shortage, which caused long power cuts that exceeded 15 hours per day in Beirut and other areas, a scarcity of petrol and diesel exacerbated people’s sufferings.

During the past few days, angry protestors took to the streets, cutting roads in several areas of Beirut and torching tires and garbage containers, blaming the government for the severe power outage.

The fuel shortage is directly linked to the lack of liquidity with the government to import petroleum products in fresh dollars. The crisis will extend to all other services that need to be paid in dollars, as explained by the member of the parliamentary public works, transport, energy and water Committee, MP Faisal Al-Sayegh.

Sayegh noted that the crisis would further worsen as buying fuel after the end of March would require issuing a law to give Lebanon’s electricity company (EDL) emergency cash advance of hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as earmarking tens of millions of fresh dollars for the operation and maintenance of the Deir Ammar (North) and Zahrani (South) power plants, in dues claimed by Primesouth Company.

The two plants (Deir Ammar and Al-Zahrani) provide 55 percent of the total power production capacity in Lebanon, which is the equivalent of 900 megawatts and about 9 to 10 hours of supply per day.

Moreover, two Turkish ships - Fatima Gul and Orhan Bey - which Lebanon uses to produce electricity, could leave the Lebanese shores as the government failed to settle their dues, which amount to around USD 160 million. This means that Lebanon will lose 25 percent of the electricity production.

Asked about the agreement concluded with Iraq to supply Lebanon with one million barrels of fuel for electricity and 500,000 barrels of crude oil, Sayegh noted that the agreement had not been translated on the ground, adding that the Ministry of Energy was intending to make some amendments to it.

Sayegh warned against an imminent popular explosion, saying that fresh dollars could only be secured by foreign aid through the International Monetary Fund, which requires reform and the formation of a government. Therefore, no solutions can be envisaged before forming a government that would immediately work on reform, he underlined.



Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
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Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had struck "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the first targeted killing in the area for several months.

In a statement, Israel's military did not give the identity of the targeted person. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Lebanese state media said a car had been hit near Tripoli and the health ministry reported two people were killed and three others wounded, without identifying them, Reuters reported.

Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups maintain a presence in various areas of Lebanon, mostly in camps that have housed displaced Palestinians for decades.

Since Hamas' cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in 2023, Israel has carried out targeted strikes on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah as well as members of Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

Hamas' deputy chief was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs in early 2024, and other strikes hit Palestinian camps in northern Lebanon.

A US-brokered ceasefire last year ended the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, though Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah arms depots and fighters, mostly in southern Lebanon.

Tuesday's strike near Tripoli was the first time a targeted assassination had taken place in the area since the truce.

Meanwhile, US envoy Thomas Barrack continued a two-day visit to Lebanon to discuss disarming Hezbollah and other militant groups.