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Hassan Nasrallah affirmed his party’s commitment to the Mar Mikhael agreement with the Free Patriotic Movement. In a speech commemorating the second anniversary of the assassination of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, Nasrallah lashed out at the Americans for the killing and said he would devote another speech to current affairs; however, the Hezbollah chief also expressed that he agreed with FPM leader Gebran Bassil that the memorandum of understanding between their parties reached in 2006, known as Mar Mikhael agreement, needed improvement. Bassil said on Sunday, following weeks of speculation that the alliance between the parties was on thin ice, that the agreement’s terms are generally good, but that it needed revision to meet the needs of the Lebanese and answer their fears. Bassil is due to speak again today at 5:30 p.m. Responding to FPM founder President Michael Aoun’s call for a national dialogue, Nasrallah stressed the importance of dialogue and accepted the invitation. He also responded to Saudi Arabia’s comments referring to Hezboallah as a terrorist organization, saying that “the terrorist is the one who keeps hundreds of thousands of Lebanese hostages and threatens Lebanon through them.”

Within hours of Nasrallah’s speech, Prime Minister Najib Mikati issued a statement distancing Lebanon from the Hezbollah chief's remarks about Saudi Arabia. Mikati accused Hezbollah’s leadership of opposing the Lebanese national interest by taking stances which “firstly damage Lebanese people and secondly [damage] Lebanon’s relationship with its brotherhood countries” and asked the Shiite party to “spare Lebanon and the Lebanese the ugly sectarian and political tensions.” The premier’s response comes as he continues his efforts to heal a diplomatic rift with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies that opened in October following the airing of comments by then-Information Minister George Kurdahi that were critical of Saudi involvement in the war in Yemen. Kurdahi’s subsequent resignation in early December alongside diplomatic efforts by France appeared to thaw the ice somewhat between Riyadh and Beirut, but diplomatic ties between the countries have yet to be restored and a Saudi import ban on goods from Lebanon remains in place.

The Lebanese lira shot past its all-time low of LL 29,000 to the dollar yesterday. The latest drop comes despite the central bank’s efforts to quell the market through Circular 161, which stipulates that holders of so-called “lollars” or “Lebanese dollars” can exchange their money for cash dollars at the Sayrafa rate for the month of December. It recently extended to include January as well. The national currency’s plunge comes after the central bank increased the withdrawal rate for the lollar from LL3,900 to LL8,000. The renewed plummet also defies positive news from government sources on the progress of an International Monetary Fund bailout package, negotiations of which are set to accelerate once an IMF delegation visits Beirut on Jan. 17, with a preliminary deal expected within two months. This time last year the lira was trading at LL8,500 to the dollar, making its year-on-year loss in value close to 70 percent.

The head of the national committee on Covid-19 vaccines weighed in yesterday on the merits of another coronavirus lockdown, saying it would only serve as a temporary fix. Abdul Rahman Bizri added that such a move would have major catastrophic effects on the economic and educational sectors. Bizri instead urged vaccination against the virus, noting that although the Omicron variant is highly contagious, cases of it are mostly not severe. On Sunday, Health Minister Firass Abiad had said that he would consider closing the country down if the spread of COVID-19 continued to accelerate, while last week Lebanon’s education minister made clear that he opposed any further school closures given how much in-person class time had been missed over the past two years. Abiad previously emphasized that the main determining factor in a future lockdown would be the health care system’s capacity to cope with the number of coronavirus cases. As of yesterday, the country’s COVID-19 units in hospitals were at 64 percent capacity while intensive care beds for people with the coronavirus were at 68 percent capacity.