LEBANON - War Against Israel Devastates Economy
Tourism and agriculture are some of Lebanon’s most affected sectors, primarily in the southern regions that depend on them.
No one walks on Tyre’s beaches anymore. No foreign languages complement its clean water. For the past five months, tourists can be counted in dribs and drabs in this Mediterranean city in the south of Lebanon, 25 kilometers from Israel’s border. The empty hotels and restaurants reflect a Lebanon at war, abandoned to its own fate. In the main southern city in the south of the country, the strange silence and quietness reflect another added layer of suffering for the Lebanese people who, before October 7, were already going through the worst economic crisis in the world since 1850, according to the World Bank.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army and the Lebanese militia Hizbullah have clashed along the border shared by both countries.
Over the past four years, the country has seen its national currency plummet, inflation figures break records, and fragile public services crumble. Since 2019, its GDP has fallen by 50 percent, and 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
According to Lebanon’s union of restaurants, nightclubs, and cafes, the restaurant sector has seen a drop in business of up to 80% since October 7.
“The population of the border villages depends on the cultivation of tobacco and olives. That is all they have,” the humanitarian worker said. “In three months, they used to collect enough to sustain them financially for the whole year, but now they don’t even have that,” she told The Media Line.
-themedialine.org, 7 March 2024
Arno's Commentary
It seems illogical if not outright foolish for Lebanon to attack Israel. Worse yet, Hezbollah insists on sending rockets across the border for as long as Israel’s war in Gaza lasts.
In past decades, Lebanon was often viewed as the Switzerland of the Middle East. Not so much today.
Of interest is the reason for Hezbollah’s hatred of Israel—actually, there is none. Good relations with the State of Israel would guarantee peace, prosperity, and security, but apparently hate is stronger than common sense.
The population of Lebanon stands at 5.3 million, with 67.8% Muslim and 32.4% Christian. The last estimate of per capita GDP was $13,000 in 2021, which is over $4,000 less than it was in 2019.
Again, why? Unbridled hate. Here we must point to a statement in the New Testament: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). While this is directed at the Church, the god of this world is also the enemy of Israel. Why? Because he does not endorse fulfillment of Bible prophecy, rather the hindrance thereof.
Incidentally, this also explains why so much hatred is being discharged against Israel from countries around the world that have little to no relationship to the Jewish State.
The foolish actions of Lebanon mirror the error Christians make by getting involved in fighting “against flesh and blood.” While it may be difficult for some to swallow, flesh and blood means people. No matter who they are, all come under the promising umbrella: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
