The Free Patriotic Movement will only end its alliance with Hezbollah if it is in Lebanon’s national interest and without pressure from external forces, Gebran Bassil said last night. In an interview with Saudi TV channel Al Hadath, the FPM leader said that there are problems between the two parties that have the potential to fracture their relationship, but that a decision to part ways would be a purely internal one. The US, which has been ramping up sanctions against Hezbollah-linked officials in Lebanon, blacklisted Bassil for alleged corruption 11 days ago. Bassil has repeatedly denied the accusations, telling Al Hadath he is prepared to step away from politics if he is proved to be corrupt. Caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe, a close ally of Bassil’s father-in-law, President Michel Aoun, said he requested justification for the sanctions from US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea.

Ministers announced that sorely needed back payments to hospitals will begin this week. Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said his ministry was preparing to transfer LL235 billion in dues owed to public and private hospitals from this year to the Finance Ministry, while caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni committed to start payouts this week. Private hospitals have said that financial constraints have limited their ability to open and equip COVID-19 units, which the government has ordered them to do to meet growing demand for coronavirus intensive care beds. As of Sunday night, 80.9 percent of all ICU beds for COVID-19 patients were full, according to the World Health Organization. Hassan also said that Lebanon is seeking a World Bank loan to provide more funding to the struggling hospital sector.

Syrian Foreign Minister and staunch Assad loyalist Walid Mouallem died at the age of 79. Syrian state media announced the passing of the key regime figure early Monday morning without specifying a cause of death, though Mouallem has been suffering from ill health for years. He had undergone heart surgery at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in 2014. Lebanese allies of the Syrian government offered condolences to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and caretaker Social Affairs and Tourism Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh was dispatched to Damascus to represent Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the state funeral.

Workers at a waste treatment plant near Saida have committed to an open-ended strike until their demands for fair pay are met. On Monday morning, employees prevented garbage trucks from entering the Sainik plant as they called for their salaries, paid out in lira, to be adjusted to an exchange rate of LL3,900 to help them cope with rising living costs. The city’s mayor, Mohammad al-Saudi, failed to convince IBC, the company that runs the plant, and its workers, to reach a compromise.

The Beirut Traders Association will hold a press conference today to condemn the impact the coronavirus lockdown is having on businesses and livelihoods. The decision to implement a strict lockdown without offering adequate financial support to vulnerable groups and businesses pushed shopkeepers in Tripoli’s old souks to hold a protest yesterday, saying forced closure will bankrupt them. The army intervened to stop the business owners from reopening their shops. The UN estimates that 55 percent of Lebanese now live below the poverty line.