Caretaker Premier Hassan Diab announces lockdown measures at the Presidential Palace in Baabda yesterday. (Dalati & Nohra)
Authorities announced a countrywide lockdown to combat COVID-19, starting Saturday, Nov. 14, until Nov. 30. In its decision, the Higher Defense Council exempted essential public and private sector institutions such as bakeries, foodstuff providers, telecoms and banks. Caretaker Premier Hassan Diab warned that if coronavirus cases continue to mount, the lockdown might be extended; he also said that the army will distribute LL400,000 monthly, in cash, to each of the 240,000 most vulnerable families until the end of the year. Lebanon registered 1,552 new cases yesterday; 17 people died, bringing the pandemic’s death toll to 749.
A draft law criminalizing sexual harassment was approved by Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee. The bill was submitted by MP Inaya Ezzeddine (Amal/Sur), who told L’Orient Today that the committee had made alterations to her proposal, including lowering the minimum jail time from six months to one month. The maximum sentence was kept at two years, with the potential for a longer sentence in more extreme cases. The bill now heads to the full Parliament; there is no guarantee the all-male leadership will act on it quickly.
Prosecutors at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are seeking a life sentence for Salim Ayyash. The court found the Hezbollah member guilty in absentia on Aug. 18 for the killing of Rafik Hariri and 21 others in a 2005 explosion in Beirut. Prosecutor Nigel Povoas told the court that life in prison “is the only just and proportionate sentence” for the crime. The tribunal has also indicted Ayyash for the murder of George Hawi and the attempted murders of Marwan Hamadeh and Elias Murr.
Lebanese and Israeli delegations will meet today to continue maritime border talks. During the last session, both sides were pushing to maximize their maritime borders, as both countries aim to prosper from the potential maritime resources. Reports suggest today’s talks may once again founder amid competing maximalist claims.
Hassan Nasrallah will deliver a televised speech tonight at 8:30 p.m. to mark Hezbollah’s Martyrs’ Day. The party’s Al-Manar television station said that Nasrallah will address the latest political developments, including issues related to Israel and the southern border. Yesterday, the NNA reported that two Merkava tanks of the Israeli army crossed the technical fence in Adaisseh in the afternoon, while the Israeli military said that it shot down a Hezbollah drone that had crossed from Lebanon into occupied Palestine.
Caretaker Social Affairs and Tourism Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh will represent Lebanon at a Russian-organized conference in Damascus on the return of Syrian refugees. The conference, which convenes today and tomorrow, aims to facilitate a safe and voluntary return for Syrian refugees prior to a political resolution to the 9-year-old Syrian war. There are nearly 900,000 refugees registered in Lebanon; just under 60,000 have returned since 2016, according to UNHCR. Of the countries with major Syrian refugee populations, only Lebanon was set to attend, according to Syrian state media. Barring last-minute developments, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq will stay away, along with the European Union and United States.
An envoy of Emmanuel Macron is expected to arrive in Beirut this evening to discuss the floundering French initiative for Lebanon. Patrick Durel, the French president’s diplomatic advisor on North Africa and the Middle East, is set to meet tomorrow with Michel Aoun, Nabih Berri, Saad Hariri and other top political leaders, our sister publication L’Orient-Le Jour reports. The French presidential pointman will discuss delays to the cabinet formation, now three months since Hassan Diab’s government resigned, L’Orient-Le Jour added. Macron’s road map for reforms in Lebanon, criticized by some as overly ambitious, has failed in its first step, the formation of a government.
