Frustration over a strict COVID-19 lockdown and a collapsing economy exploded into protests in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, where a government building [10] was set aflame on the night of Jan. 28, and several days of clashes between security forces and demonstrators left one person dead [11] and more than 100 injured. Lebanon is in the midst of a 24-hour curfew, with even supermarkets closed—a measure that authorities defended as necessary [12] given a surge of coronavirus cases that has left the healthcare system struggling to cope. But crippling poverty is on the rise in Lebanon—thanks to an ongoing financial crisis [13], compounded by the global pandemic and an August explosion at the Beirut port [14]—and some argue that the strict containment rules go too far. Some local aid groups say they have been denied permission to bring help [15], including much-needed food, to vulnerable families.
From The New Humanitarian [18], Jan. 29
