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Lebanon Suffers its Share of Devastating Earthquake

Lebanese soldiers leave for Türkiye to help in rescue missions(AP)
Lebanese soldiers leave for Türkiye to help in rescue missions(AP)
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Lebanon Suffers its Share of Devastating Earthquake

Lebanese soldiers leave for Türkiye to help in rescue missions(AP)
Lebanese soldiers leave for Türkiye to help in rescue missions(AP)

Lebanon has had its share of fear and terror of the massive earthquake that struck southern Türkiye and northern Syria on Monday. At around 3 a.m. local time in Lebanon, residents were startled awake due to a 5.0-magnitude tremor that lasted for around 40 seconds.

The earthquake, however, gave Lebanon only material damage.

While the death toll from the overnight earthquake is so far in the thousands in both Türkiye and Syria, no injuries or fatalities have been reported in Lebanon, according to caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi and Secretary General of Lebanese Red Cross Georges Kettaneh.

Mawlawi, however, declared a state of municipal emergency and mobilized cadres, unions, and district governors to conduct a survey of the damage resulting from the earthquake.

The minister also ordered providing necessary assistance to prevent any damage that might threaten the lives and safety of citizens.

“Lebanon has a national plan for natural disasters that was completed four years ago,” Secretary-General of Lebanon’s High Relief Committee, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to Kheir, the plan calls for immediate action by relevant ministries and their affiliated administrations across the country.

Nevertheless, Kheir pointed to the plan being “primitive” as it solely offers instructions and guidelines for dealing with natural disasters.

“This is because earthquakes and tremors cannot be predicted,” said Kheir.

Kheir pointed out that “coordination is underway with all municipalities.”

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud, in coordination with the Municipal Council of the City of Beirut, had asked technical departments in the municipality to be on standby to intervene in the event of any emergency that might occur due to natural factors or others.

Abboud also asked the citizens and residents of the capital to contact the municipality upon spotting any visible cracks or fissures in buildings or homes because of the earthquake. This is so that engineers and technicians can be sent for immediate inspection.

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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.