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Beirut: Lebanese bankers announced the closure of branches for three days starting Monday, after an influx of angry depositors demanding access to their frozen savings.
Caretaker Home Minister Bassam Mawlawi also called for an emergency meeting of the Central Security Council to discuss security measures that could be taken in light of the increasing number of bank storms.
The Lebanese Banking Association said in a statement that it was closing banks to take necessary regulatory measures and to take into account the safety of customers.
The group opposes any form of violence and stresses that the solution is to “solve the crisis through the law as soon as possible”.
Lebanese banks were hit on Friday by a flood of mock robberies in which angry customers tried to withdraw their deposits.
Bank storm
Banks reportedly held by depositors• Byblos Bank in Ghazieh
• Beirut Withdrawal of El-Jadida’s BLOM Bank
• Audi Bank in Chiyah
• Banque Libano-Française branches in Kafaat and Hamra
• Lebanese and Gulf Bank in Ramlet El-Baida
• Concorde’s BLOM Bank
• Fransabank in Beirut
• BankMed in Chehim, Mount Lebanon
The chain of events began early in the morning when a man entered the Byblos Bank branch in the southern Lebanese town of Gaziyah and threatened employees with military weapons, demanding that they refund his deposits.
Less than two hours later, a depositor – later identified as Abed Soubra – stormed the BLOM Bank branch in Tarik El-Jadida, Beirut, also demanding that his money be returned to him.
An official at the bank’s headquarters told Arab News that they had received photos of the inside of the bank’s branches, showing that employees and customers were in a state of panic.
Security forces are in talks with armed depositors, the official said.
Byblos depositor Mohamed Q. was accompanied by another person as he entered the southern Lebanese bank. He poured petrol in the house and threatened to burn the branches if he didn’t give him a deposit.
There was a state of panic inside the bank, and the gunman managed to hand over his entire deposit of $19,200 to his accomplice, who waited outside the bank and hid with the money.
Later, the gunman and the man with him, who was sure to be his son, turned themselves in with a smile to the security forces who rushed to the scene.
The gunman and his son were taken to the police station for questioning.
Above, the smiling suspect turns himself in to police. (Twitter)
So far, four bank intruders have managed to secure some of their deposits by raiding banks and threatening employees with weapons or burning themselves and their homes with gasoline. The intruders were not severely punished by the security services.
Sali Hafiz raided the Sodeco branch of BLOM Bank in Beirut on Wednesday, demanding that her savings be withdrawn.
Hafez claimed she needed the money to pay for her sister’s cancer treatment.
She threatened to set herself and the bank on fire if they refused to release her and her sister’s joint deposits of about $20,000.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, a young man named Rami Sharaf Al-Din entered a Bankmed branch in Aley City. He reportedly threatened employees, but according to officials, members of the security services intervened and arrested him.
Haitham Ezzo, a lawyer active in defending civilians who protested in the streets, including depositors, told Arab News: “According to the provisions of the criminal code on the formation of bad guys and criminal activities, the The intruder issued a warrant. Invasion, but in these cases, there was no criminal intent.
In these incidents, Ezzo explained, the goal of bank intruders was to take back what they were entitled to, “their goal was not to steal.”
“By not dealing with the crisis, the state is turning ordinary civilians into criminals instead.”
Ezzo expects the invasion to continue.
Since 2019, Lebanon’s cash-strapped banks have imposed severe restrictions on the withdrawal of foreign currency, tying up the savings of millions.
About three-quarters of the population has fallen into poverty as the Middle Eastern country’s economy continues to spiral upwards.
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