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6 Months After Ceasefire in Lebanon
6 Months After Ceasefire in Lebanon

Associated Press

time6 days ago

  • Business
  • Associated Press

6 Months After Ceasefire in Lebanon

Published by Action Against Hunger. Contact [email protected] for inquiries. NEW YORK and BEIRUT, May 27, 2025 /3BL/ - Despite hopes for peace after a ceasefire agreement six months ago in November 2024 in Lebanon, military activity remains intense in southern parts of the country, the Bekaa Valley and southern suburbs of Beirut. Around 90,000 people remain internally displaced, and nearly 1.2 million suffer from high levels of food insecurity. The civilian population remains at high risk, and recent attacks have targeted populated areas, further endangering lives and livelihoods. 'One of the last air strikes was on 8 May,' explains Suzanne Takkenberg, director of Action Against Hunger in Lebanon. 'On that day, there were more than 19 attacks in the space of an hour in southern Lebanon, close to our distribution points, forcing us to temporarily halt our activities.' 1 in 6 people Cannot Return Home According to the International Organization for Migration, approximately 90,000 people remain internally displaced in Lebanon. While over 900,000 people have returned to their communities, many have found their homes uninhabitable. Families are forced to live in borrowed flats or rent temporary housing, and the risks of unexploded ordnance and violence remain. One such displaced person is Ali (name changed for safety). Ali's home was completely destroyed, and he lost his job due to the conflict. He had no choice but to flee. Like hundreds of others, Ali took refuge at the emergency shelter in Bir Hassan School in south Beirut, where now, eight months later, he remains. Displaced people like Ali struggle to access clean water, healthcare, and sanitation. 'Displacement, extraordinary increases in the cost of living, interruptions in food supply, loss of livelihoods and damage to water and sanitation infrastructure are some of the barriers that prevent civilians from meeting their most basic needs,' said Takkenberg. Agriculture and Food Crisis According to the latest UN report on food security in Lebanon, nearly 1.2 million people, including Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians suffer from high levels of acute food insecurity despite the ceasefire. The situation is mainly due to the protracted impact of the conflict, continued forced population displacement, and the deep economic crisis of recent years. The livelihoods of families, especially those who make their living from agriculture, have been severely impacted. According to the World Bank, damage to the agricultural sector is estimated at a minimum of $11 billion in losses since the start of the conflict in October 2023. The border area was one of the worst affected during the escalation of the conflict. Jaafar, a farmer in Beit Lif, a predominantly agricultural region along the border with Israel, says that 'because of the drones, everyone is afraid. All the land and all the fields are destroyed in this area in the south. The trees have either been uprooted or damaged.' Beit Lif's population used to be 7,000, but now only 125 remain as lack of access to fertilizer, water, and fuel makes land cultivation nearly impossible. Mahmoud, a displaced person from Odaisseh says, 'There is no life. There are no plants. There is nothing left.' He has been living with his family for over a year and a half and cannot return home due to the level of destruction. 'We didn't expect the conflict to last so long, so we didn't bring many things with us. If humanitarian organizations stopped working here, it would be like leaving us at the mercy of the desert,' he concludes. Action Against Hunger's Humanitarian Response 'Many families are struggling to afford essential food items, and food insecurity is widespread. The most urgent needs include emergency shelter, access to clean water, hygiene kits, and sanitation facilities,' explains Suzanne Takkenberg. 'Damage to water and sanitation infrastructures makes it very difficult for families to return home permanently. The risk of waterborne diseases remains high. The efforts of humanitarian organizations are crucial to protect the well-being and dignity of those affected.' Action Against Hunger is providing emergency support in Beirut, the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, Nabatiyeh, and southern Lebanon. Activities include: *** Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 21 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across over 55 countries, our 8,900 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Action Against Hunger

Hezbollah holds firm in Lebanon's municipal elections
Hezbollah holds firm in Lebanon's municipal elections

Al Jazeera

time26-05-2025

  • Politics
  • Al Jazeera

Hezbollah holds firm in Lebanon's municipal elections

Beirut, Lebanon – As southern Lebanon continues to suffer from sporadic Israeli attacks despite a ceasefire signed in November between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, establishment parties have emerged as the biggest winners of municipal elections. Voting took place over four weeks, starting in Mount Lebanon – north of the capital, Beirut – followed by the country's northern districts, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley, and concluding on Saturday in southern Lebanon. While Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and armed group, suffered setbacks to its political influence and military capabilities during 14 months of war with Israel, the group's voter base was still intact and handed it and Amal, its closest political ally, victories across dozens of municipalities. 'The Hezbollah-Amal alliance has held firm and support among the Shia base has not experienced any dramatic erosion,' Imad Salamey, a professor of political science at the Lebanese American University, told Al Jazeera. Despite establishment parties winning the majority of seats across the country, candidates running on campaigns of political reform and opposition to the political establishment also made inroads in some parts of the country, even winning seats in municipalities in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah historically has enjoyed strong support. In Lebanon, there is no unified bloc of reformists although political actors and groups that emerged during the 2019 antigovernment protests over the economic crisis are referred to locally as 'el-tagheyereen', or change makers. 'Alternative Shia candidates in some localities were able to run without facing significant intimidation, signalling a limited but growing space for dissent within the community,' Salamey said. The fact the elections were held at all will be seen as a boon to the pro-reform government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who came to power in January, say analysts. The polls, initially set for 2022, were delayed three times due to parliamentary elections, funding issues and the war with Israel, which started in October 2023. Critics, however, argued the elections favoured established parties because the uncertainty over when they would be held meant candidates waited to build their campaigns. As recently as March, there were still proposals to delay the elections until September to give candidates a chance to prepare their platforms after Lebanon suffered through the war and a two-month intensification by Israel from September to November, which left the country needing $11bn for recovery and reconstruction, according to the World Bank. The war left Hezbollah politically and militarily battered after Israel killed much of its leadership, including longtime Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hachem Safieddine. The war reordered the power balance in Lebanon, diminishing Hezbollah's influence. Many villages in southern Lebanon are still inaccessible, and Israel continues to occupy five points of Lebanese territory that it has refused to withdraw from after the ceasefire. It also continues to attack other parts of the south, where it claims Hezbollah still has weapons. With their villages still destroyed or too dangerous to access, many southerners cast ballots in Nabatieh or Tyre, an act that recalls the 18-year Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. During the occupation, elections for southern regions under Israeli control were also held in other cities still under Lebanese sovereignty. Hezbollah has given up the majority of its sites in the south to the Lebanese army, a senior western diplomat told Al Jazeera and local media has reported. The recent post-war period also brought to power a new president, army commander Joseph Aoun, and the reform camp's choice for prime minister, Salam, former president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Municipal elections are not seen as an indicator of the country's popular sentiment due to low voter interest and local political dynamics differing from those at the national level. Some analysts dismissed the results, calling them 'insignificant' and added that next year's parliamentary elections would more accurately reflect which direction the country is headed. Voter turnout was lower in almost every part of the country compared with 2016, the last time municipal elections took place. The places it fell included southern Lebanon, where 37 percent of the population voted. In 2016, 48 percent of its voters cast ballots. This was also true in most of the Bekaa Valley, an area that also was hit hard during the war and where Hezbollah tends to be the most popular party. In the north, voter turnout dropped from 45 percent in 2016 to 39 percent in 2025. In Beirut, the turnout was marginally higher – 21 percent in 2025 compared with 20 percent in 2016. Many people in southern Lebanon are still living through the war as Israel continues to carry out attacks on areas like Nabatieh. While some in and from the south have questioned Hezbollah's standing and decision to enter into a war with Israel on behalf of Gaza when they fired rockets on the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms territory on October 8, 2023, others still cling to their fervent support for the group. 'The municipal elections confirmed that Hezbollah and the Amal Movement remain strong,' Qassem Kassir, a journalist and political analyst believed to be close to Hezbollah, told Al Jazeera. 'The forces of change are weak, and their role has declined. The party [Hezbollah] maintains its relationship with the people.' Although reform forces did win some seats, including in Lebanon's third largest city, Sidon, they were largely at a disadvantage due to a lack of name familiarity, the short campaign time and misinformation circulated by politically affiliated media. Claims of corruption and contested election results marred voting in parts of the north, where many candidates from traditional political parties dominated. In Beirut, forces for change were dealt a heavy blow. After receiving about 40 percent of the vote in 2016, which still was not enough to earn them a municipal seat, the reformist Beirut Madinati (Beirut My City) list won less than 10 percent of this year's vote. The defeat took place despite the worsening living conditions in the capital, which critics blamed on establishment parties, including those running the municipality. 'The municipality lives on another planet, completely detached from the concerns of the people,' Sarah Mahmoud, a Beirut Madinati candidate, told Al Jazeera on May 18 on the streets of Beirut as people went out to vote. Since an economic crisis took hold in 2019, electricity cuts have become more common, and diesel generators have plugged the gap. These generators contribute to air pollution, which has been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory ailments in Beirut and carries cancer risks. Despite the criticisms and degraded living situation in the city, a list of candidates backed by establishment figures and major parties, including Hezbollah and Amal, but also their major ideological opponents, including the Lebanese Forces and the right-wing Kataeb Party, won 23 out of 24 seats. This list ran on a platform that stoked fears of sectarian disenfranchisement and promised sectarian parity. Municipalities, unlike Lebanon's parliament, do not have sectarian quotas. The unlikely coalition of establishment parties, which was similar to the successful list in 2016 that aligned establishment parties against reform candidates, puzzled some in the capital. In separate incidents, television reporters confronted representatives from Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces, drawing angry and confrontational reactions from them but little clarification as to why they'd align with an avowed enemy. Bernard Bridi, a media adviser for the list, said its priority was to bring in a foreign consultancy that would advise the municipality on how to manage Beirut like other major international capitals. She added that the opposing parties decided to unify because the stakes are so high this year after years of economic suffering, particularly since the war. Critics, however, accused the establishment parties of trying to keep power concentrated among themselves rather than let it fall to reformists who could threaten the system that has consolidated power in the hands of a few key figures and groups in the post-civil war era. 'The question is what are you fighting for,' Karim Safieddine, a political organiser with Beirut Madinati, said, referring to the establishment list. 'And if they can tell me what they're fighting for, I'd be grateful.' Now the nation's eyes will turn to May next year as parties and movements are already preparing their candidates and platforms for parliamentary elections. In 2022, just more than a dozen reform candidates emerged from Lebanon's economic crisis and subsequent popular uprising. Some speculated that the reform spirit has subsided since thousands of Lebanese have emigrated abroad – close to 200,000 from 2018 to 2021 alone – and others have grown disillusioned at a perceived lack of immediate change or disagreements among reform-minded figures. Many Lebanese will also have last year's struggles during the war and need for reconstruction in mind when heading to the polls next year. Some have started to question or challenge Hezbollah's longtime dominance after seeing the group so badly weakened by Israel. Others are doubling down on their support due to what they said is neglect by the new government and their belief that Hezbollah is the only group working in their interests. 'Taken together, these developments imply a future trajectory where Shia political support for Hezbollah remains solid but increasingly isolated,' Salamey explained, 'while its broader cross-sectarian coalition continues to shrink, potentially reducing Hezbollah's influence in future parliamentary elections to that of a more pronounced minority bloc.'

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