After heist, Lebanese activists promise more bank raids

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese activist group says they will continue to organize bank heists to help people retrieve their trapped savings in this crisis-hit Mideast country. Activists from the Depositors’ Outcry group made these remarks at a press conference on Thursday, after the group had helped Sali Hafez retrieve $13,000 in her savings to help fund her sister’s cancer treatment on Wednesday. The group told The Associated Press that they had also coordinated with a man who tried to take some of his money from a bank in the mountainous town of Aley. Lebanon’s cash-strapped banks have imposed strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency since 2019, tying up the savings of millions. About three-quarters of the population has slipped into poverty as Lebanon’s economy continues to spiral.