Qatar pledges a lifeline for Lebanon’s economy, power grid and reconstruction in the south

BEIRUT (AP) — Qatar will help Lebanon revive its struggling economy, including by rehabilitating its crumbling electricity sector and supporting the future reconstruction of the country’s south, the Qatari prime minister said Friday.

Qatar will continue to support the Lebanese army “as a national institution that safeguards the country’s security, unity and stability,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said after meeting in Beirut with his Lebanese counterpart Nawaf Salam.

For years, Qatar has been a friendly country to Lebanon and a mediator for domestic and international political crises in the region. Qatar has also given tens of millions of dollars to the Lebanese army since Lebanon’s economic meltdown began in 2019.

The Qatari official said that QatarEnergy has reached an agreement with French company TotalEnergies to jointly develop a solar power plant in Lebanon as an initial project. He said that the aim is to develop a major investment project “that would benefit the Lebanese economy, as well as the Qatari companies and entities participating in it.”

Salam said that he will put the plans for Lebanon’s electricity sector to the Lebanese Cabinet soon.

“The Qatari side will fund, implement and activate the project without any cost on the Lebanese state,” Salam said, adding that such a move is important because of Lebanon’s financial crisis.

Lebanon’s state electricity company is one of the country’s biggest sources of debt, hemorrhaging about $40 billion over the past decades with a bloated workforce and outdated infrastructure. The company provides only a few hours of electricity each day, and the state, until a year ago, had taken advances from the Central Bank when diesel fuel ran out.

Earlier in the day, Qatar’s prime minister met with Lebanon’s president and parliamentary speaker and discussed with them the situation in southern Lebanon, where Israel captured dozens of villages and towns earlier this year during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. Over the past several months, Israel has carried out large-scale demolitions in villages that its troops occupy.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in early March, two days after the U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran, the Lebanese group’s main backer, on Feb. 28.

The Qatari official said that Israel should withdraw from Lebanon and cease its attacks in the country. He said that Qatar is working in coordination with the United States to help lay the groundwork for future reconstruction in southern Lebanon, in a manner that would allow displaced people to return to their homes.

About 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon at the height of the war. Most have returned home since a June ceasefire, but more than 300,000 remain displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration.