Ghada Ayoub, Lebanese Forces MP for Jezzine, in Maarab. Photo taken from her X account.
Jezzine MP Ghada Ayoub of the Lebanese Forces on Friday welcomed the decision by the municipal council — dominated by the rival Free Patriotic Movement — to withdraw its ban on aerial photography by drones, a power she said belongs exclusively to the Lebanese Army. She has denounced the measure since August as an “abuse of power.”
According to our South Lebanon correspondent, the Jezzine municipality had unilaterally decided to ban drones from filming events, festivities or landscapes. But under Lebanese law, municipalities can only handle the application process for permits, while authorization must come from military intelligence. The council has now backtracked on its decision.
“After two statements opposing the ban issued by its president, the Jezzine municipal council has corrected its course and now acts in accordance with the law, limiting itself to requiring authorization from the Lebanese Army and the Directorates of Orientation and Intelligence,” Ayoub said. “Jurisdiction in this matter is the exclusive responsibility of these two military institutions, and not the municipality.”
Ayoub criticized the earlier ban as both an “abuse of power” and an “excess in the use of authority.” She also lamented that the reversal “was not published on the municipality’s page, unlike the previous decision by its president.”
She concluded: “Adhering to the law and the exclusive prerogatives of the Army and its Orientation and Intelligence Directorates remains the sole guarantee for safeguarding public rights and freedoms and protecting the nation’s supreme interest.”
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