Minister warns aid cuts to Lebanon risk empowering Hezbollah
Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed warns of resurgent sectarian tensions as Israeli strikes drive mass displacement into overcrowded Beirut.
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WASHINGTON — As Israeli strikes continue to send waves of people fleeing southern Lebanon, a senior Lebanese official is urging the United States to increase humanitarian funding or risk Hezbollah gaining strength.
“Society is being pushed to the limit,” Lebanon’s social affairs minister, Haneen Sayed, told Al-Monitor during an April 14 interview in Washington. “After a while, people are going to get agitated.”
More than one million people in Lebanon — some 20% of the population — have been uprooted during the Israeli military campaign, which began on March 2 when Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel in support of its ally Iran. Israel responded with a massive bombardment across Lebanon that has killed more than 2,000 people, including at least 166 children, according to Lebanese authorities.
