Beirut – The intensity of the Lebanese rushing to grocery stores and gas stations has decreased, a few days after Israel escalated its attacks on southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut, since last September 23.
As of yesterday, Monday, the Israeli escalation against Lebanon, specifically the southern regions, entered its second week, amid the most violent attacks since the 2006 war between Tel Aviv and Lebanon.
With Israel announcing on Tuesday the start of a ground operation in southern Lebanon, which it described as “specific targets,” there were no signs of a rush by citizens in Beirut to grocery stores.
The Israeli army said that the 98th Military Division began “directed and specific” activities in southern Lebanon, the day after a night of anticipation for an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Lebanese territory, but no invasion of Lebanese territory by Israeli forces had been observed until Tuesday morning.
Last week, the Lebanese Ministry of Energy said that the fuel allocated for generating electrical power is sufficient for 12 days, specifically until October 7 of this year.
But even before the outbreak of the Israeli war, the Lebanese street has been suffering for 5 years from the fluctuation in the availability of vital commodities, especially fuel for vehicles and fuel for power generation.
The scarcity of foreign exchange in banks and the Central Bank of Lebanon led to the scarcity of many vital goods imported from abroad, which led to the recovery of the black market not only for foreign exchange, but for goods as well.
However, the country is awaiting the arrival of two shipments of fuel, or what is known as “gas oil,” from Algeria as part of a grant the latter provided to Lebanon last August, and another shipment from Iraq, during the first week of this October.
According to press statements by the Minister of Energy and Water, Walid Fayyad, on September 25, during which he confirmed that the stocks of gas oil allocated for power generation amounted to 30 thousand tons, while the daily consumption of the plants reached 2,500 tons.
He said: “The stock of gas oil in Lebanon will increase in the coming days, with the arrival of an additional 60,000 tons according to an agreement concluded with Iraq, in addition to an additional 24,000 tons, from the Algerian grant.”
While the Ministry reassured citizens on Sunday of the availability of necessary reserves of petroleum derivatives in the medium term, stressing that “there is no gasoline or diesel crisis,” without providing numbers.
On Saturday, Lebanese media outlets, including Al-Akhbar and Al-Modon newspaper, quoted Maroun Chammas, head of the Oil Importing Companies Association, as saying that the fuel market for cars will remain stable as long as commercial ports operate without any restrictions.
He said: “As long as the sea is open and there are no obstacles to importing, there is no problem with securing gasoline. The material is currently in abundance, but the situation changes as the situation changes. If the door to importing via sea is closed, we will fall into a crisis.”
Since the first days of the Israeli military escalation, queues of vehicles began to form at the entrances to gas stations, before their intensity decreased slightly by the beginning of this week.
In the south, where the Israeli bombing is concentrated and the ground invasion begins, the towns and villages there are facing a scarcity of some foodstuffs such as flour and fuel for vehicles.
The Ministries of Economy, Energy and Health called for the necessity of providing the needs of southern towns.
On Monday, Economy Minister Amin Salam appeared in an interview with CNN, during which he confirmed that Lebanon’s operating ports did not stop receiving imports during the past days.
He added: “The most important thing is that we are working in cooperation with the relevant authorities to maintain the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar… but there is an existing risk that the exchange rate will move downward.”
He added: “There is a danger to the regions of the south that were damaged, and with them thousands of jobs and businesses that were closed for an unlimited period there.. This has negative effects on the economy.. and it is too early to talk about loss figures.”
Regarding wheat stocks, he said: “We have quantities of wheat inside the country. The reserves are sufficient for two months, and we have upcoming shipments that will increase the reserves to meet the market’s need for 3 months.”
Anatolia
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2024-10-01 09:52:20
