Lebanese banks held up by customers again as financial crisis deepens

A series of Lebanese banks were stormed by customers on Friday as the spiralling number of hold-ups continues amid the country’s financial crisis.

Since Wednesday, at least seven banks have been held up after most financial institutions prevented customers from withdrawing savings from their accounts, leaving people unable to pay for basic items.

This has caused a spate of account holders seeking to access their money through force and often brandishing weapons in an attempt to get their funds as Lebanon continues to struggle in the third year of a severe economic depression.

On Friday morning, an armed man identified as Abed Soubra entered BLOM Bank in Beirut’s Tariq Jdideh neighbourhood demanding his deposit, the bank told Reuters.

He was still locked in the branch hours later and said by phone that he had handed over his gun to security forces and just wanted his money. “I’ll stay here three, four, five days – I won’t move until I get my deposit,” he said.

Mr Soubra said he had refused an offer from the bank to take a portion of his $300,000 in savings with a significant cut and in Lebanese currency.

“I deposited my money in dollars – I want them back in dollars,” he said.

Mr Soubra was cheered on by a large crowd who gathered outside, including Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, who carried out the very first hold-up in August to get his own deposits from his bank, which dropped charges against him.

“We’re going to keep seeing this happen as long as people have money inside. What do you want them to do? They don’t have another solution,” said Mr Hussein, who obtained around $30,000 from his savings of $200,000.

Security forces deployed at the scene after a bank protest (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In another incident, a man was able to retrieve a portion of his funds from the Ghazieh branch of Byblos Bank before being arrested, the source said, adding that the weapon in his possession was believed to be a toy.

Byblos Bank could not immediately be reached for comment.

Elsewhere, a man with a pellet gun entered a branch of LGB Bank in Beirut‘s Ramlet al-Bayda area seeking to withdraw some $50,000 dollars in savings, a bank employee said.

Mohammad al-Moussawi threatened the Banque Libano-Francaise (BLF) bank with a fake gun and managed to get $20,000 in cash out of his account, he said.

“This banking system is tricking us and it’s worth my shoe,” he said, telling Reuters he would be going into hiding.

Sali Hafez looks at her phone after breaking into a BLOM Bank branch brandishing what she later said was a toy pistol on Wednesday (AP)

BLF Bank said the incident “took five minutes” and that no employees were harmed.

The fifth incident on Friday afternoon saw a man fire shots inside a branch of Bankmed as he sought access to his own savings, an industry source told Reuters.

The source said the man was a member of Lebanon’s security forces and that there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Lebanon’s banks association announced a three-day closure next week over mounting security concerns and called on the government to pass necessary laws to deal with the crisis.

Authorities have been slow to pass reforms that would grant them access to $3bn (£2.6bn) from the International Monetary Fund to ease the crisis.

Withdrawals in Lebanese pounds are worth less and less, as the lira has lost more than 95 per cent of its value since 2019.

It comes just days after a woman brandishing a toy pistol broke into a Beirut bank on Wednesday, taking $13,000 from her trapped savings.

Additional reporting by Reuters