Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib met his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos today at the Foreign Ministry in downtown Beirut.
According to their joint press conference, the issue of refugee’s passage to Cyprus was discussed, in addition to bilateral relations between the two countries. It was expected that the Syrian refugee topic would have the lion’s share of the meeting, but Bou Habib only uttered a single sentence about it. He said that this issue was addressed in the meeting, then he decided to benefit from his time to thank the Cypriot authorities for securing a humanitarian corridor to assist the people of Gaza. “Gaza needs great help,” Bou Habib emphasized, an inarguably true statement. However, Bou Habib forgot that Lebanon also needs help in light of the depreciation of the Lebanese pound vs the US dollar and the five-year-old crisis suffocating our national economy.
In addition, the Foreign Minister forgot to mention that the main reason for the economic collapse is the presence of two million Syrian refugees on Lebanese soil, consuming water and electricity without paying the Lebanese government. He preferred to reiterate the need for Israel to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, as if our side were abiding by the resolution after the Israelis initiated the war on Gaza on October 7.
It was the Lebanese, Hezbollah specifically, that breached Resolution 1701 and engaged in the war 157 days ago, not the Israeli side. But that will surely not be mentioned by a minister in a caretaker government that is fully dominated by Hezbollah.
It is clear that Resolution 1701 is out of date now, and it can further be concluded from the current war. An amended version of this international decision will have to be issued after the war ends. The main question remains: why does Hezbollah and its allies still insist on implementing Resolution 1701 when they are refusing to retreat to the zones north of the Litani river?
Rather than benefiting from his meeting with the Cypriot Foreign Minister to neutrally address tourism, security, political measures to halt refugee influx and bilateral relations, our Foreign Minister decided to show clear bias and forget the essential needs of the Lebanese people, focusing on the aid corridor to Gaza and showing the Lebanese position as being identical to that of Hezbollah.
Moreover, Bou Habib spoke about calm on our southern borders, taking Jordan and Egypt as examples: these two countries have maintained their stability and security by not getting involved in the Gaza war. However, it would surely have been better for the Lebanese Foreign Minister to send a clear message to the party that is in charge of security in the country, and that also has a monopoly over the decision of war or peace.
Lebanon and Cyprus have good relations and are similar in climate and geography, except that Cyprus is an island, with mountains similar to those in Lebanon. Nevertheless, Cypriots decided back in the day to separate themselves from regional tensions despite being occupied by the Turkish Army. What helped Cyprus succeed in neutrality was maybe the absence of borders with other countries.
In conclusion, Cyprus succeeded in building a decent non-rentier economy based on production, agriculture and tourism.
Lebanon has failed at this since some Lebanese insisted on being parts of political axes. And it was clearly shown today that our Foreign Minister is certainly part of the alliance of collapsed economies and countries that can only afford weapons and ammunition, but not food and gas.
