Lebanon Approves $246 Million Safety Net, but Seeks Oversight Cuts

A boy sifts garbage in Beirut during a strict Covid-19 lockdown imposed by the authorities on January 15, 2021. (AFP)
A boy sifts garbage in Beirut during a strict Covid-19 lockdown imposed by the authorities on January 15, 2021. (AFP)
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Lebanon Approves $246 Million Safety Net, but Seeks Oversight Cuts

A boy sifts garbage in Beirut during a strict Covid-19 lockdown imposed by the authorities on January 15, 2021. (AFP)
A boy sifts garbage in Beirut during a strict Covid-19 lockdown imposed by the authorities on January 15, 2021. (AFP)

Nearly 150,000 of Lebanon’s poorest families could soon start receiving monthly cash handouts after lawmakers gave approval on Friday to a $246-million World Bank loan to ease the impact of the country’s financial meltdown.

But in a nation where many people blame the crisis on corruption and mismanagement, some analysts questioned MPs’ decision to cut at least $5 million from allocations for oversight and so-called capacity building to prepare for future shocks.

The World Bank, which agreed the loan in January, could not immediately be reached to comment.

The financing aims to cut extreme poverty by half through household aid payments of up to 800,000 Lebanese pounds, equivalent to less than $100 per month, as well as boost social services and fund the education costs of 87,000 students.

Parliamentarians who backed the changes to the loan’s spending structure said more poor families would be able to benefit as a result.

Ibrahim Kanaan, chair of parliament’s finance and budget committee, said the alterations would reduce running costs and make the program “much better than it was before”.

Kanaan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation he had lobbied to slash spending on capacity-building because “in the past this never did its job. Large portions where mis-spent ... there is a big margin for corruption”.

Other changes voted by parliament included cutting funding for an independent third-party monitor by half and reducing the timespan of an external financial audit to one year from three.

Instead of hiring companies to verify the eligibility of families for the handouts and oversee the payments, parliament voted to hand that task to the social affairs ministry and volunteers.

Some financial analysts questioned the oversight cuts.

“What does Lebanon gain by slashing the budget for oversight and governance by a few million dollars while putting at risk the effective management of the $246 million program?” said Mike Azar, a senior financial adviser based in Beirut.

He said such costs were often high for governments with weak institutions, but “the solution is to fix the institutions, governance and transparency, not slash the oversight costs which may end up costing the country much more in the long run”.

Few people in Lebanon trust government, and - citing the risk of corruption - rights groups and donors have said aid should be disbursed directly to people reeling from the economic crisis, COVID-19 and a massive August 2020 blast in Beirut.

The World Bank, which is partly financing the country’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, threatened last month to suspend its support after some lawmakers jumped the queue and got their vaccinations early.

They received the jabs during a February session discussing the loan endorsed on Friday.



Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
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Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a "grave mistake" that he said would benefit the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel's military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition, Reuters reported.

Smotrich's comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.

"... the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas," Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as "logistical support for the enemy during wartime".

The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.

Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to UN estimates.

Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.

PRESSURE

Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.

The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.