https://arab.news/ymfeq
Slowly but surely, more than a year since the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel came into effect, Lebanon is taking baby steps toward normality. That is despite the war having not completely ended yet.
Slowly, the new president, Joseph Aoun, and the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam are trying to claw back control of the state. For the past 30 or more years, Lebanon has been kidnapped by a state within the state, whereby every political, economic or social decision had to be calibrated with the many interests of the dominant Hezbollah militia, supported by Syria until the fall of Assad regime and Iran.
Slowly too, the Lebanese are permitting themselves to hope. This is reflected in a greater positivity about the future among the battered Lebanese, who are still hoping to claim back some peace, stability and semblance of a functioning state, so that reforms, a consistent power supply and basic services return to the broken country.
“Slowly” is the safest word with which to describe the achievements of President Aoun after a year in office, as he took the reins on Jan. 9, 2025, just as the Israeli drones and fighter jets were completing a two-month operation targeting Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
