The Grand Serail, headquarters of the Cabinet, Beirut. (Credit: L'Orient-Le Jour archives)
The Council of Ministers approved funds for the Ministry of Defence to recruit 1,500 military personnel, amounting to 1.3 million dollars. According to the meeting minutes, the sum is exactly LL113.25 billion, which should cover the costs of these recruitments for three months, until the end of the year.
This decision comes as Lebanon faces the impact of the war between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, particularly since Sept. 23. The Cabinet is also set to discuss the bolstering of the Lebanese Army’s presence in southern Lebanon in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, amid ongoing diplomatic efforts for a cease-fire.
The government announcement was made by outgoing Information Minister Ziad Makari during a press briefing attended by outgoing Environment Minister Nasser Yassine, who also acts as coordinator of the Emergency Committee set up to respond to the humanitarian consequences of Israel's military offensive against Lebanon. This Israeli army has killed more than 3,000 people since October 2023, forced more than 1.4 million people to flee and caused billions of dollars worth of destruction in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
This decision comes as Lebanon faces the impact of the war between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, particularly since Sept. 23. The Cabinet is also set to discuss the bolstering of the Lebanese Army’s presence in southern Lebanon in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, amid ongoing diplomatic efforts for a cease-fire.
Defense Minister Maurice Slim’s absence
Defense Minister Maurice Slim, directly concerned with this issue, issued a statement Wednesday before the meeting, expressing frustration that the recruitment item was added to the agenda "without consultation or a proposal from his office." Slim clarified he is not opposed to the measure itself but is protesting an "encroachment on his ministry’s prerogatives," which he views as a breach of the Constitution, Cabinet regulations and existing laws. Consequently, he is not attending the session.
Slim also noted that on previous occasions, he had been consulted on defense matters despite not attending Cabinet meetings for nearly two years. As a member of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) bloc led by Gebran Bassil, Slim and other FPM ministers have abstained from Cabinet meetings in protest of the lack of a president, fearing participation would normalize an exceptional situation. "Why was I not consulted this time?" he asked, without specifying whether he would attend the meeting, which seems unlikely.
Speaking at the start of the Cabinet meeting, Mikati expressed the Lebanese government's decision "to preserve Lebanon's dignity and ensure the respect of national sovereignty in all its air, sea, and land dimensions, within the framework of international resolutions," emphasizing that "no violation or aggression" against Lebanese territory would be tolerated. He also stated that Israeli aggressions against Lebanon "are turning into crimes against humanity and civilization."
Addressing the publication of the preliminary results of the U.S. presidential election, which show Donald Trump as the winner, the Prime Minister congratulated the elected president and the American people on this "democratic milestone."
Item on public schools postponed
A highly anticipated decision — to use private schools for students from affected areas — was postponed. Education Minister Abbas Halabi had proposed using private school buildings to accommodate students from both public and private schools in affected areas for the 2024-2025 school year. Public schools in most regions are currently serving as shelters for hundreds of thousands of displaced people from South Lebanon and the Bekaa fleeing Israeli shelling.
According to Makari, the Cabinet was unable to make a decision, despite the school year having finally begun — after many delays — two days ago after Halabi requested it be delayed in light of Israeli military aggression in the country.
The government has decided to grant the planned productivity bonuses for public sector workers without any attendance conditions, given the context. This exception does not apply to transport allowances. Meeting minutes show the executive also announced that civil servants whose workplaces are inaccessible or destroyed will be temporarily relocated until the situation returns to normal, without giving any further details on how this will be organized.
According to the minister of information, the executive also approved the increase of contributions to the Teachers' Pension Fund, in order to increase its funding, which has been heavily depreciated by the fall in value of the Lebanese pound. The minister did not provide any further details, but in principle, such a text would have to be approved by Parliament before it could be applied.
Economic and infrastructure matters
On the economic front, a ministry has requested a 47-billion-LBP loan for the purchase of subsidized wheat for Lebanese bread, sold at a fixed market price. The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) is seeking funds, still unspecified, to pay contractors involved in public works for the state. Payments to contractors have become increasingly irregular since the onset of the financial crisis in 2019. For public sector salaries and allowances, a possible bonus might be released from the 2024 budget reserves or other sources.
The Cabinet is also expected to approve the extension of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) clearances, originally set to expire between Sept. 1 and Dec. 30, 2024, until Dec. 31.
On the infrastructure side, the Higher Relief Committee has requested that repair work on the Chekka Highway (in North Lebanon), aimed at addressing a years-old landslide, be exempted from VAT.
The Cabinet meeting was attended by Vice Prime Minister Saade Chami, along with ministers Abbas Halabi, Ziad Makari, Youssef Khalil, Georges Bouchikian, Walid Nassar, Bassam Mawlawi, Firass Abiad, Nasser Yassin (who also heads the government's emergency committee), Johnny Corm, Mohammad Mortada, Abbas Hage Hassan, Ali Hamieh and Issam Charafeddine.
Response program
According to Minister Yassin, quoted by the official National News Agency (NNA), the “response program” implemented under the aegis of the Cabinet to assess the impact of the war on Lebanon was also presented during the meeting.
The program has “three components,” implemented “in full transparency” in coordination with U.N. agencies, “and in particular OCHA [the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is a department of the U.N. Secretariat] to ensure food distribution in shelters.” Yassin reported that “44,000 displaced families are living in 1,138 shelters, in addition to 147,000 families in private accommodation.” He added that “128,000 rations have been sent” by countries that have come to Lebanon's aid, “which represents a small percentage of needs compared with the existing families.” He also denied reports of “millions of tons of flour” already supplied by Iraq, but thanked that country for “its commitment to send flour to Lebanon.”
The Minister also indicated that a circular would soon be issued by the Cabinet detailing the mechanism for redistributing the aid received. He also reported on an advance approved by the Executive for oil facilities “based on a study carried out within the Ministerial Committee in cooperation with the Ministries of Energy, Social Affairs, Education and governors, to supply 541 shelters located at altitudes of over 300 meters, in the Bekaa and other regions, to provide diesel for heating.”
Yassin assured that “work is continuing to implement all the decisions of the Paris Conference [held on Oct. 24] and all the aid announced at the conference,” and announced a coordination meeting “next week.” “Donors are working to organize a mini-conference to implement these decisions,” he added.
Finally, Yassin reported that the Syrian authorities were facilitating the return of their nationals to their homes, and that 400,000 of them had already left Lebanon “despite the bombardment of the official crossing points” between the two countries. He also reported that Lebanese displaced persons were making their way to Iraq via Syria, adding that the former had already taken in 32,000 displaced persons.
Other points were to be examined by the Cabinet, with the Justice Ministry proposing to authorize the appeal courts of Nabatieh and Baalbeck, regions under fire, to hold their hearings at the Beirut Justice Palace and at the Ministry's headquarters.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
