US Official: Lebanon Has 'No Other Way Out' of Crisis than IMF Deal

Demonstrators carry banners during a protest organized by Depositors' Outcry, a group campaigning for angry depositors, near Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
Demonstrators carry banners during a protest organized by Depositors' Outcry, a group campaigning for angry depositors, near Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
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US Official: Lebanon Has 'No Other Way Out' of Crisis than IMF Deal

Demonstrators carry banners during a protest organized by Depositors' Outcry, a group campaigning for angry depositors, near Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
Demonstrators carry banners during a protest organized by Depositors' Outcry, a group campaigning for angry depositors, near Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo

Lebanon has no alternative for economic recovery but to make progress on a deal with the International Monetary Fund, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said in an online briefing on Thursday.

Leaf, who visited Lebanon and other countries in the region in recent weeks, said Lebanese leaders appeared to lack a "sense of urgency" to get their country out of a severe economic and political crisis.

The IMF warned last Thursday that Lebanon was in a very dangerous situation a year after it committed to reforms it has failed to implement.

IMF mission chief Ernesto Rigo told a news conference in Beirut that the authorities should accelerate the implementation of conditions set for a $3 billion bailout.

Lebanon signed a staff-level agreement with the IMF nearly one year ago but has not met the conditions to secure a full program, which is seen as crucial for its recovery from one of the world's worst financial crises.



Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

At least one soldier was killed and 18 others injured, some seriously, after an Israeli attack targeted an army center in the town of Al-Amiriya on the Al-Qalila-Tyre road in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said on Sunday.
The attack caused severe damage to the facility, the army added in a post on X.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The fighting, that escalated in September, has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and the fighting.
The escalation comes after U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein traveled to the region in pursuit of a deal to end months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has erupted into full-on war.