Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
Lebanon is facing multiple serious challenges spanning politics, security, energy resources, and an Israeli occupation with almost daily attacks across the country.
In July, water levels dropped to a historic low at Lebanon’s largest reservoir on the Litani River. Experts have said it’s the country’s worst drought on record, threatening agriculture, electricity production, and domestic water supplies.
Lebanon’s hydroelectric plants tied to the reservoir were shut down, causing electricity rationing.
A study found climate change has contributed to more frequent dry seasons and higher temperatures, exacerbating soil moisture loss and reducing the recharging of groundwater reservoirs.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water, Joe Saddi, has signed a deal with Merit Invest of France for three new solar projects. The projects were proposed in May 2022, but never initiated. Saddi has given the company until the end of 2025 to develop the projects.
Three solar sites across the country are to be connected to the national grid once completed, and will provide power to 22,000 homes.
Among the most pressing issues in Lebanon is the decision to unify the national security by mandating only the Lebanese army and security services allowed to hold weapons.
On Friday, a statement from the office of Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said, “The policy the government committed to in its ministerial statement calls for extending the sovereignty of the Lebanese state with its own forces across all its territories, and … enforcing the laws on all citizens without exception,” it said, adding that this places “great responsibility” on security services to deliver on this mandate.
“The Lebanese are equal before the law, and the state does not discriminate between one citizen and another, or between one group of citizens and another,” the statement continued.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese resistance force has been armed, and were responsible for forcing Israel to withdraw in 2000 from the occupation of southern Lebanon after more than two decades of brutality which was exposed by the survivors of the Khaim prison, where even Lebanese women and children were tortured and killed.
Lebanon is currently suffering from a new Israeli occupation of five points, including the Shebaa Farms. The US brokered a deal where Israel is mandated to leave, but instead has refused and has exacerbated the situation with almost daily attacks across the country.
In light of the situation on the ground, Hezbollah has argued they will disarm only after Israel will withdraw from Lebanese territory. US special envoy, Tom Barrack, claims the US is powerless to demand that Israel uphold the deal mandating their withdrawal.
Caught in the middle is the Lebanese government and the army who seek the disarming of Hezbollah, but are suffering from an Israeli occupation, and a lack of willingness of the US to enforce the security agreement they brokered.
Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Khaled Zein Eddine, Chief Editor for Euroarab media, member of the International Federation of Journalists, and member of the Union of Journalists in Poland.
#1. Steven Sahiounie (SS): Why has the Ministry of Energy failed to provide reliable electricity and water services despite increased solar energy production?
Khaeld Zein Eddine (KZE): The Ministry of Energy and Water has failed to provide electricity and water services to the Lebanese people. This is because the Ministry of Energy is seen as Lebanon’s black gold and oil, and every official who has held the position has built personal wealth, looted the ministry, taken their share, and secured benefits for their political leadership through deals involving diesel purchases, contracts, cables, the power grid, and financing. No one has an interest in securing electricity or rehabilitating power plants, as that would limit theft and looting.
Buying power ships is more profitable for them, as it brings wealth through sales and suspicious deals.
The Ministry of Energy Is a ministry of looting.
#2. SS: What are the consequences of Lebanon’s failure to build dams and manage water resources effectively?
KZE: Consequences of the Failure to Build Dams and Manage Resources: The mismanagement and failure to construct dams have led to the waste and loss of water resources, which in turn negatively impacts the economy, agriculture, livestock, and the environment. This situation has also allowed for the random drilling of wells, with permits benefiting influential figures, military officers, and religious leaders. The cost of obtaining a well-drilling permit reached up to $3,000.
#3. SS: What was discussed during the recent meeting between Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji and Iran’s Abbas Araghchi in Doha?
KZE: The relationship between Lebanon and Iran Is tense, and the Lebanese Foreign Minister has made it clear that he will not allow Iran to infringe upon Lebanon’s foreign policy or seize its diplomatic decision-making. He was firm and unequivocal in stating that Lebanon’s sovereignty and decisions lie within the Council of Ministers.
#4. SS: How is the Lebanese army enforcing its new security plan, and what challenges does it face in confiscating weapons from non-state actors?
KZE: The Lebanese government faces major challenges in asserting the authority of the state through the enforcement of decisions within the military and judicial institutions. Among these challenges is the issue of weapons—controlling, collecting, and enforcing regulations—especially given that a faction within Hezbollah seeks not a unified state, but a parallel entity that operates outside the law, contributing to security breakdowns and drug trafficking.
The government is also confronted with the challenges of war, reconstruction, international shifts, corruption, sectarian quotas, governance, institutional reform, state-building, healthcare, education, energy, smuggling, and border control.
#5. SS: What is Hezbollah’s stance on disarmament, and how does it align with Lebanon’s national unity and sovereignty goals?
KZE: Some of the Hezbollah leadership are not concerned with Lebanon; it maintains external affiliations. Most of its leadership Is uninterested in state-building, because a functioning state would mean the end of smuggling routes, drug trafficking, weapons proliferation, lawlessness, the dismantling of mafias, the prosecution of criminals, and the fight against sectarian quotas and corruption. Some of Hezballah leaders seeks a state tailored to its own interests and those, that allow interference in the judiciary and undermines the authority of the state.
Some of the party’s leaders, along with Sunni and Christian figures, have built institutions, amassed wealth, and established mafias by exploiting the party’s political support—from Tripoli to the South, through the Bekaa Valley and Beirut.
Note: the opinions of the guess doesn’t present MideastDiscourse or it’s Chief editor Journalist Steven Sahiounie
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist.
