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Lebanon Faces Internet Service Interruption

FILE - A man refuels privately-owned diesel generators that provide power to homes and businesses, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
FILE - A man refuels privately-owned diesel generators that provide power to homes and businesses, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
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Lebanon Faces Internet Service Interruption

FILE - A man refuels privately-owned diesel generators that provide power to homes and businesses, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
FILE - A man refuels privately-owned diesel generators that provide power to homes and businesses, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

Internet services were disrupted in Lebanon on Sunday because of diesel shortages, according to the state provider, adding another essential service to the list of casualties of the country’s snowballing economic crisis.

Imad Kreidieh, the head of state internet provider Ogero, tweeted that starting early Sunday a major station in west Beirut, al-Mazraa, would run out of diesel and go offline. The outage affected over 26,000 subscribers, including the country’s Internal Security operation rooms, he told a local TV station.

By midday Sunday, a resident donated diesel, allowing the station to get back online, he said. Meanwhile, another neighborhood in east Beirut, Ashrafieh, was out of diesel and briefly operated on batteries.

“The situation is unbearable,” Kreidieh told the TV station.

Lebanese live with only few hours of state electricity a day and rely on a network of private generators that also depend on diesel fuel. This often leaves neighborhoods in total darkness for hours. Meanwhile, residents have to pay for multiple services, including hefty bills to generator operators, which change regularly as the crisis worsens.

Internet and telecom services already were expensive in Lebanon. In 2019, a tax imposed on WhatsApp services sparked nationwide protests that turned into a denunciation of the entire political elite.

The import-dependent country is also suffering from shortage of medicines, leaving patients dependent on black market, smuggled medicines and donations from Lebanese expats and civil groups.

The state-owned and other telecommunication companies complain they can’t keep up with rising operational costs, including fuel.

“I will not agree to continue in this post unless I have all the authorities and tools to do my job,” The Associated Press quoted Kreidieh as saying.

He blamed the service interruption in west Beirut on a civil servant who didn’t sign a piece of paper on time to allow him to buy needed diesel. Amid the crisis, many public sector workers have gone on strike, demanding their salaries be adjusted to rising inflation and a collapsing currency.

Kreidieh said his company had to borrow to buy diesel at market rates to keep other stations operating, adding that internet service is also affected outside of Beirut.

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Arab World

Gaza-Egypt Border Crossing Reopens for Small Numbers of People

A UN vehicle leads ambulances carrying war-wounded people and patients who leave Gaza, for treatment abroad, through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after it was opened by Israel on Thursday for a limited number of people, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A UN vehicle leads ambulances carrying war-wounded people and patients who leave Gaza, for treatment abroad, through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after it was opened by Israel on Thursday for a limited number of people, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Gaza-Egypt Border Crossing Reopens for Small Numbers of People

A UN vehicle leads ambulances carrying war-wounded people and patients who leave Gaza, for treatment abroad, through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after it was opened by Israel on Thursday for a limited number of people, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A UN vehicle leads ambulances carrying war-wounded people and patients who leave Gaza, for treatment abroad, through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after it was opened by Israel on Thursday for a limited number of people, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Gaza's border crossing with Egypt reopened on Thursday for a limited number of people, Egyptian state media and a Red Crescent official said, for the first time since Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran.

An Egyptian Red Crescent official, speaking anonymously to AFP, said the Rafah crossing had reopened in both directions and would allow Palestinian patients to cross into Egypt and stranded Palestinians to return to Gaza.

Al-Qahera News, which is close to Egypt's intelligence services, aired footage showing a small number of Palestinians, including people who had been receiving medical treatment, preparing to cross from the Egyptian side back into Gaza.

Several ambulances were also seen waiting to receive patients coming out of the devastated Palestinian territory.

Israel had announced earlier this week that Rafah would reopen on Wednesday, but the reopening did not materialize.

It said travel would resume in coordination with Egypt, subject to Israeli security approval and monitored by the European Union's border mission.

Incoming travelers will undergo additional screening inside Gaza in an area controlled by the Israeli army, according to COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body overseeing civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories.

The EU deployed its border assistance mission (EUBAM) to Rafah in early February.

Rafah, seized by Israeli forces nearly two years ago in the war with Hamas, had briefly reopened on February 2 for limited movement, but was shut again on February 28 when Israel closed all crossings after the strikes on Iran began.

The Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing reopened days later for limited humanitarian aid, including fuel.

For many sick and injured Gazans, Rafah has been a crucial route to medical care in Egypt and one of the few means for separated families to reunite.

But despite its reopening last month, only small numbers of Palestinians have been permitted to cross.

According to three Egyptian border officials, the daily cap for entry into Egypt was 50 patients, each allowed a maximum of two companions, with the number of people allowed back into Gaza also limited to 50.

Those who returned during the brief February reopening said that they underwent extensive security checks and interrogations.

Arab World

Iraqi Factions: Tehran’s Arm in an Open War of Attrition

A burning fire outside the perimeter of the United States Embassy in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on March 17, 2026. 
A burning fire outside the perimeter of the United States Embassy in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on March 17, 2026. 
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Iraqi Factions: Tehran’s Arm in an Open War of Attrition

A burning fire outside the perimeter of the United States Embassy in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on March 17, 2026. 
A burning fire outside the perimeter of the United States Embassy in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on March 17, 2026. 

Since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, Iraqi factions aligned with Tehran have placed US interests squarely in their sights, repeatedly targeting bases hosting international forces, diplomatic missions and key oil infrastructure.

Designated as terrorist organizations by Washington, these groups had issued early warnings that the confrontation would evolve into a prolonged “war of attrition.”

Interlocking Axes

In a statement underscoring domestic production, Harakat al-Nujaba said the manufacture of drones and missiles within the so-called Axis of Resistance had become “as commonplace as making sweets in Iraqi homes.”

The factions operate under a loose umbrella known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which regularly claims drone and rocket attacks against what it describes as hostile targets inside Iraq and across the region.

They form a core part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, alongside Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen. Iraqi factions also pledged full support for Iran following the Israeli–US strike on Feb. 28.

Military and Political Landscape

Several actors shape the current landscape. Kataib Hezbollah is widely seen as the spearhead of attacks on US interests and has lost several commanders in past strikes. It has also developed a political role by backing a parliamentary bloc with six seats.

Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, led by Abu Alaa al-Walaei, is represented within the Coordination Framework, the ruling Shiite alliance with a parliamentary majority. Harakat al-Nujaba, by contrast, rejects political participation, favoring a purely military approach.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq has so far avoided direct involvement in the current fighting, focusing instead on political influence through its 27-seat bloc. It is widely seen as gradually distancing itself from its armed role.

Strategy of Attrition

Attacks have extended beyond the US Embassy in Baghdad and its airport facilities to include oil fields operated by foreign companies and sites in the Kurdistan Region, which hosts a major US consulate and military forces. The impact has also spread beyond Iraq, with Kuwait previously summoning the Iraqi ambassador after strikes hit its territory.

Lahib Higel of the International Crisis Group said the factions’ involvement reflects an “existential battle” for Iran, describing them as a last line of defense. Despite their use of drones and short-range missiles, she said Tehran continues to withhold heavier weapons compared with those supplied to Hezbollah or the Houthis. The ultimate aim, she added, is to expel US forces from Iraq.

Wave of Assassinations

The United States and Israel have responded with precision strikes. Early in the conflict, airstrikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah strongholds in Jurf al-Sakhr, south of Baghdad, as well as sites linked to the Popular Mobilization Forces.

According to Agence France-Presse, at least 43 fighters from these groups have been killed since the start of operations. The escalation peaked last Saturday when a missile struck a house in central Baghdad, killing three Kataib Hezbollah members, including a senior commander, and wounding the group’s leader, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi.

An Iraqi security official said the wave of assassinations that began during the Gaza war in 2023 has now moved openly into Iraq, signaling a new phase of intensified confrontation.

Arab World

Israel Tests Lebanon’s Internal Cohesion

A rescue worker carries a child at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A rescue worker carries a child at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Israel Tests Lebanon’s Internal Cohesion

A rescue worker carries a child at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A rescue worker carries a child at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israel has widened its campaign in Lebanon to include central Beirut, launching a series of pre-dawn airstrikes on Wednesday, followed hours later by a strike on a residential apartment in the Zoqaq al-Blat district.

The attacks mark a clear expansion of targets within the capital.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said strikes on the Basta and Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhoods killed 10 people and wounded 27 others. Four areas were hit, including Bashoura, Basta and Zoqaq al-Blat.

Several buildings that had been targeted in recent days were struck again, in what appears to be a deliberate escalation strategy aimed at repeatedly hitting the same sites until they are fully disabled.

The latest strikes signal the effective end of what had been known as the “Beirut exception,” with the capital directly drawn into the confrontation.

MP Mohammad Khawaja told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel does not distinguish between areas within Lebanon.

“This strategy aims to create internal tensions, particularly in mixed areas, thereby increasing social pressure,” he stated.

He added that targeting civilians or civilian areas “has occurred in Beirut before, and may well be repeated.”

Khawaja said the attacks “directly target Lebanon’s social fabric by deepening divisions and creating tensions among the Lebanese,” adding that the most effective response is “to uphold national principles and strengthen internal unity.”

 

A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut's Bashoura neighbourhood early on March 18, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)

For his part, MP Ibrahim Mneimneh said Israel is seeking to exert all-out pressure on Hezbollah, including by leveraging Lebanon’s internal situation as a tool of social pressure.

“Targeting Beirut is not limited to pursuing specific individuals,” he said. “It is also part of an attempt to create internal fractures and push Lebanese against one another, increasing pressure on Hezbollah’s support base.”

Beirut, he added, is bearing a double burden as a capital hosting displaced people while also facing mounting security pressure and direct targeting.

Mneimneh warned that Beirut is no longer exempt from escalation and that this pattern is likely to continue in the coming period. He stressed the need to control any elements that could be used as a pretext for further strikes, in order to protect civilians and reduce exposure to risk.

The deputy added that the confrontation appears open-ended, with both Israel and Hezbollah holding to their positions, placing Lebanon and its people among the primary victims.

Retired Brig. Gen. Bassam Yassin said Israeli strikes on Beirut “are not governed by geographic considerations or red lines.”

He described a policy of “open pressure,” with Israel striking “wherever it chooses, without distinction.”