The conflict with Israel poses significant risks for Lebanon amid its ongoing financial and political turmoil
\n Tel Aviv
\nThe conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is unfolding against a backdrop of financial and political crises in Lebanon, adding to the risks for the fragile country should hostilities spiral into full-blown war.
\nThe Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October. The chances of an escalation increased after Israel said it would strike hard against Hezbollah, accusing the group of killing 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack.
\nThough the conflict has been relatively contained so far, it is weighing heavily on a country where five years of domestic crises have hollowed out the state. The conflict has forced some 95,000 people to flee southern Lebanon, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
\nHere\u2019s an overview of Lebanon\u2019s troubles:
\nEconomic Meltdown
\nLebanon is still suffering after a catastrophic financial collapse that rocked the country in 2019.
\nCaused by decades of profligate spending and corruption in the ruling elite, the meltdown sank the currency, toppled the banking system, paralysed the state, and fuelled poverty and the biggest wave of emigration since the 1975-90 civil war.
\nThe World Bank has described it as one of the sharpest depressions of modern times. Lebanon\u2019s economy shrank from $55 billion in 2018 to $31.7 billion in 2020. The government has yet to enact reforms needed for recovery.
\nPublic sector workers, their salaries decimated, are among those still feeling the impact. Aid from Qatar and the United States has given a slight boost to the wages of the Lebanese army, long seen as vital to preserving the civil peace.
\nThe lingering damage was captured in a World Bank report in May that found poverty had more than tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, reaching 44% of the population.
\nIt found that one in three Lebanese was poverty-stricken in 2022 in five surveyed governorates, including Beirut. While new Beirut restaurants serve the rich, the World Bank report said three out of five households had cut back on food spending.
\nThe International Monetary Fund said in May a lack of action on necessary economic reforms continued to exert a heavy toll on the economy and people. It said there was no credible and financially viable strategy for the banking system.
\nPolitical Tensions
\nLebanon has not had a head of state or a fully empowered cabinet since Michel Aoun\u2019s term as president ended in October 2022, leaving an unprecedented vacuum.
\nThe government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been serving in a caretaker capacity since then. Filling the presidency and installing a fully empowered government requires a deal among Lebanon\u2019s deeply divided factions. Previous such crises have only been resolved through foreign mediation, but there has been no sign of effective intervention this time.
\nOn one level, the standoff reflects rivalries among Maronite Christians, for whom the presidency is reserved under Lebanon\u2019s sectarian power-sharing system.
\nOn another, it reflects a power struggle between the Shi\u2019ite movement Hezbollah\u2013which propelled its ally Aoun to the presidency in 2016\u2013and opponents who have long opposed the group\u2019s possession of arms.
\nHezbollah\u2019s critics say the group has once again unilaterally embroiled Lebanon in conflict.
\nSyrian Refugee Crisis
\nThirteen years since Syria\u2019s conflict broke out, Lebanon remains home to the largest refugee population per capita in the world: about 1.5 million Syrians\u2013half of whom are refugees formally registered with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR\u2013in a country of approximately 4 million Lebanese.
\nFunding for the Syria crisis is dropping, reflecting fatigue among donors grappling with other conflicts around the world. Despite their differences, parties from across Lebanon\u2019s political spectrum agree the Syrians should be sent home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The conflict with Israel poses significant risks for Lebanon amid its ongoing financial and political turmoil Tel Aviv The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is unfolding against a backdrop of financial and political crises in Lebanon, adding to the risks for the fragile country should hostilities spiral into full-blown war. The Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-421354","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n