Significant questions are emerging in the internal scene: What is being prepared for Lebanon? Where is it being led? What tunnel is intended to be entered? And who is pushing for it? For whose agenda? These questions have been prompted by a series of alarming incidents that followed one another suspiciously on the electoral path, coinciding with the dwindling time left before the elections, now only 19 days away. These incidents have subjected the Lebanese reality to dangerous tension factors, surrounding the electoral entitlement with questions about its fate and placing it in the category of potential obstruction.
The most alarming manifestation of these factors occurred in Tripoli over the past weekend, marked by clashes, heavy armed presence, attacks on Lebanese Army positions, and road closures, turning the city into a chaotic battleground. This was accompanied by protest movements and road blockades in various regions, extending to Beirut, Bekaa, and Sidon, and was met with a troubling incident characterized by violent clashes in the Aisha Bakar area of Beirut, transforming it into a pursuit arena between armed men and those referred to as "neighborhood roosters."
Simultaneously, the tragic event of the "death boat" sinking unfolded, leading to several casualties. While Lebanon observed a day of national mourning for the victims yesterday, several were buried, alongside ongoing rescue attempts and searches for the missing. Medical sources indicated to "Al-Jumhuriya" that it is unlikely they would find survivors, as investigations intensify to clarify the circumstances of the incident and determine responsibilities, from the moment the "death boat" set sail until the moment of its disastrous sinking.
It is noteworthy that the Cabinet will hold an extraordinary session at 11:30 AM on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace to discuss the boat’s sinking off the coast of Tripoli and its repercussions, as well as the security situation across various Lebanese regions.
**Suspicious Missiles**
The most alarming development, however, is the involvement of "suspicious missiles" adding to the internal tensions, as some missiles were fired at a suspicious time from Lebanese territory towards occupied Palestine, which was followed by severe Israeli bombing of some Lebanese areas. While the origin of the missiles remained unclaimed by any side, Israel's military and media levels attributed the responsibility for the missile launch to Hamas.
**The Army**
The Army Command announced in a statement yesterday that between 1:45 AM and 4:00 AM (Monday), areas including Tyrehafa, Wadi Hammoul, Alma al-Shaab, and the outskirts of Zbaqin were subjected to artillery shelling from the Israeli enemy, with no reported injuries or damages. The area was targeted with approximately 50 artillery shells. The statement also pointed out that around 40 illuminating bombs were launched by the enemy over the towns of Tyrehafa, Naqoura, Shaheen, and Bdeias, prior to a missile falling in the occupied territories, allegedly originating from Lebanon.
According to the statement, an army unit found two Grad missiles of 122 mm caliber placed on aluminum launch pads near the Qlayla area, which were then disabled by specialized units. The Army Command confirmed that the breach is being monitored in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
**Israeli Threats**
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that "Israel will use the necessary force to respond to the missile attacks launched from Lebanon, holding the Lebanese government responsible for what occurs on its territory." He further warned, "If terrorist operations and violence continue, we will know how to use the necessary force against the right targets." Israeli Army spokesman Ran Kochav added: "So far, no party has claimed responsibility for the missile launch from Lebanon, but assessments indicate it could be Palestinian factions in Lebanon due to recent events at Al-Aqsa Mosque or tensions in Gaza and the West Bank, and there’s also a possibility that Hamas’s branch in Lebanon is behind it."
**UNIFIL**
The international forces operating in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, announced in a statement that "on the night of April 24-25, a rocket was detected launched from southern Lebanon towards Israel. Immediately, the head of the UNIFIL mission and its general commander, General Arouldo Latharo, contacted the authorities on both sides of the Blue Line and urged them to exercise restraint. Nevertheless, the Israeli army responded by firing dozens of shells into Lebanon. General Latharo called on all parties to avoid further escalation, expressing concern over an disproportionate response. Once the shelling ended, UNIFIL opened an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and is working with the Lebanese Armed Forces to enhance security throughout the area of operations and reduce the risk of further provocative actions."
**The Living Crisis**
Alongside the dangerous chaos prevailing across all areas of Lebanon, and the rise in thefts and crimes without any deterrent to suppress these thieves and their protections, an even more dangerous chaos is emerging due to financial instability, with the dollar rising to astronomical levels. This effectively eliminates any value of the national currency and casts the Lebanese into a real and comprehensive poverty this time.
In this atmosphere, questions arise directed to the political and financial authorities: - Why has the dollar moved now, as it knocks on the door of thirty thousand Lebanese pounds? - Who prompted, ordered, or instructed the movement of the black market? - What dark rooms are seeking to create social and living chaos at this precise time, and ignite the fire of prices?
According to responsible sources for "Al-Jumhuriya," what is happening, whether at the security level or regarding the dollar, is rooted in a background aiming to introduce the country into a tunnel of severe danger, not merely regarding its future as a regime but concerning its existence as a homeland and entity.
The sources asked: "What parliamentary elections will take place in this atmosphere? Is it a coincidence that we have reached a point of zero electricity during this period? How will the power supply be ensured on election day at polling stations and counting points?"
They expressed deep fears that "the tensions witnessed in Tripoli in recent days may herald ominous outcomes for the country in general, potentially indicating a disruptive scenario for the elections."
In the same context, "Al-Jumhuriya" asked a security reference about the prevailing conditions, saying: All security and military agencies place preserving the safety of the Lebanese and enhancing internal stability as their top priorities, yet, as is evident, there are malicious hands seeking to push the country into dangerous pitfalls. Security eyes remain vigilant to prevent them from achieving their goals.
In response to a question about the rumors that security stability is threatened, and that some parties are preparing to undermine it before the elections, the reference confirmed that the country is under intensive care, with all security and military levels on high alert. The situation is undoubtedly sensitive and critical, but we are not worried about the emergence of dramatic developments; we are not idle, we work day and night, being fully prepared to not allow any harm to Lebanon's security and the Lebanese people, in addition to ensuring all protective elements for the parliamentary elections to proceed normally in a secure and stable environment.
**Flooding and Diarrhea**
All this is happening while electoral preparations occur in a different world. The image suggests that the country is overflowing with talk, almost to the brim; excessive proclamations, boasting, and exaggerated claims deny reality and its woes, under false and blind populism, devaluing a whole country and its afflicted people in exchange for an electoral yield that does not exceed the price of a parliamentary seat.
The electoral entitlement is just 19 days away, likely to face more flooding, populist diarrhea, and soaring easy talk, with grand slogans and titles being thrown around, denying the fact that the current electoral law, with its preferential and distorted proportionality, acts as a breaking wall against all slogans and titles, no matter how grand, and against all exaggerations and ambitions, regardless of how much their bearers boast with rhetoric and bravado that change nothing in the country’s realities nor erase the disastrous image that the country and its people have reached amid the escalation of the living crisis, as the Lebanese find themselves in the hell of inflation and rising prices.
**Change... Illusory**
In delving deeper into the electoral preparations, it becomes evident that "change" is the most frequently used term in this period. All its proponents have donned its mantle, with "accountability" following closely behind. These two broad titles are intended to be imposed in the elections on May 15, and the cycle continues to revolve. However, how will this "change" and "accountability" take place when those eager to impose them must realize that they are impossible concepts with the current electoral law that they insisted upon?
More importantly, how can such "change" and "accountability" occur when they are both far removed and significantly distant from the capacities of their banners?
Then there arises the question during this period of electoral exaggeration and promotional movements by this party or that: What change is required? Is it the change of the existing authority with its current parties? If that is the intended goal, what of its previous parties that created, protected, and nurtured it, drawing from its cheese, and participated in its countless wrongdoings, savoring its partitioning?
**Between Two Clamps**
In this context, a political-economic-living report produced by diplomatic entities indicates a "highly pessimistic assessment regarding Lebanon's future," the essence of which is: "As the days of the crisis, which ignited in Lebanon more than two years ago, continue to unfold, this country has entered the fastest type of collapse among world nations, meaning that Lebanon was built under a governing authority that has been crumbling for a long time, and the deficit has been inherited by successive governments, concealed by wielding sectarian and confessional backgrounds."
The report adds: "Despite the positive international momentum towards Lebanon, it was frustrated due to the lack of response to it, along with all the international recommendations urging its officials to expedite the path of reform remedies."
The report highlights that "Lebanon is engulfed in preparations for parliamentary elections, which delays any discussion of prompt solutions to some of its major economic challenges." It notes that the officials of the International Monetary Fund are not confident about reaching a rapid cooperation program with the Lebanese government, considering the delays in completing a recovery plan by the government, as well as the political divergences concerning some fundamental issues that constitute the basis for any cooperation agreement, especially the capital control law and banking secrecy, in addition to urgent reformative and administrative matters."
The report indicates that "Lebanon's recovery from its crisis has become nearly impossible," due to a set of intertwined factors, the first of which is that the political authority, starting from its head, obstructs any attempt at salvation, shutting the doors through which the winds of healing could enter the crisis in Lebanon, related to the judicial appointments being withheld by the president, which no country can survive and transform into a sound state without a fair and independent judiciary free from political interference. This also pertains to the electricity file, as it insists on clinging to this file despite its dismal failure, having wasted over 40 billion dollars on non-existent electricity."
**Slow Death**
The report specifies "Lebanon's position during this period, squeezed between two pressing forces. The first is the party-seeking self-interest that continues to reveal among themselves their exclusionary insides, their drift towards control, and their dominance over the political, parliamentary, governmental, and presidential scene, solely to remain the sole authority hovering over the Lebanese people's chests." The second is the suffocating crisis that leads all Lebanese to a slow death, as the ongoing worsening of the crisis, without the political authority initiating efforts to provide elements that secure some stability politically or economically and financially, in a country like Lebanon that has reached deep levels of collapse, may not be long until it announces a round of failure."
**Despair... and Misery**
While politicians approached this report from the perspective that it conveys a despairing agency towards the Lebanese people, confirming the deadlock facing Lebanon, responsible political sources conveyed to "Al-Jumhuriya" that: "There is nothing within this report that contradicts the reality, and thus it does not seem to present any disheartening dimension for people, but rather serves as a precise description of the economic and financial reality and the role of the authority or successive authorities in exacerbating it to the limits reached today. People have surpassed despair, burdened by hunger and pain, cornered in misery, and just a glance at people's faces reveals it all."
As for the authority, the sources add, "It already decided long ago to absolve itself of responsibility and has donned the true garb of a 'matriarch' that lost its supports. And as for the parties of the posts and seats, they have melted the snow of their intentions in the elections, and now their true lofty goal is to cross over the pain of the people to the parliament, granted these elections take place on time."
**Spiritual Iftar**
Saudi Ambassador Walid Boukhari, during an iftar held yesterday in honor of the heads of religious sects in Lebanon and the wider region, stated that "the banquet embodies Saudi Arabia's role in spreading a culture of peace and its efforts to enhance means of coexistence. There is a Saudi-French partnership embodied in the establishment of a joint fund, and the agreement will be signed tomorrow (today)."
He revealed that "the Saudi-French Fund agreement includes 35 projects in Lebanon related to the health, education, and energy sectors."
