The Latest Breaking News from Beirut

Officials release Beirut gunman after bank drops charges

Lebanon’s state prosecutor has released a man who took up to 10 people hostage in a bank at gunpoint while demanding funds from his locked savings account

The Independent UK · Aug 16, 2022

Lebanese man who held up bank to access savings released without charge - brother

A Lebanese judge has ordered the release from detention without charge of man who last week took hostages at a Beirut bank in an attempt to access his savings frozen after the country's 2019 financial implosion, the man's brother and a legal group said.

Reuters · Aug 16, 2022

A man who held up a bank demanding his own money becomes an unlikely hero

Many in Lebanon can't access their life savings because of the economic crisis. A hostage-taker in Beirut surrendered in exchange for some of his funds, which he needed for his father's medical bills.

WEKU · Aug 16, 2022

Gunman exits Lebanon bank, ending hostage situation

A Lebanese man who had held six people hostage at gunpoint inside a commercial bank in Beirut for around six hours exited the bank on Thursday evening, a Reuters journalist said.

Reuters · Aug 11, 2022

Furious man armed with shotgun threatens hostages at bank - demanding his own money

The gunman entered the Federal Bank of Lebanon in Beirut and drew his firearm when he was told he couldn't access the $200,000 (£160,000) in his bank account

Daily Mirror · Aug 11, 2022

Armed man demanding savings holds Beirut bank staff hostage

A Lebanese security official says a man armed with a shotgun has broken into a Beirut bank, holding employees hostage and threatening to set himself ablaze with gasoline unless he receives his trapped savings

The Independent UK · Aug 11, 2022

Lebanese Bank Hostage Situation Ends after Partial Funds Payout

A hostage standoff in which a gunman demanded a Beirut bank let him withdraw his trapped savings so that he could pay his father's medical bills ended seven hours later with the man's surrender Thursday. No injuries were reported. Authorities said Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, a 42-year-old food-delivery driver, entered the…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Aug 11, 2022

Hostage standoff at Beirut bank ends with gunman’s surrender

Banks in Lebanon have implemented informal capital controls amid ongoing economic crisis, effectively freezing savings.

Al Jazeera · Aug 11, 2022

Lebanese Buyer Cancels Order of Ukrainian Shipment After 5-Month Delay

A Lebanese buyer refused to accept a grain cargo from Ukraine, citing a delay in delivery terms, announced the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut. The Razoni, the first ship to depart Ukraine under an UN-brokered deal, left the port of Odesa on the Black Sea in August, carrying 26,000 tons of…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Aug 11, 2022

Lebanon seizes property of two MPs charged over Beirut blast

A Lebanese court ordered on Thursday the temporary seizure of property owned by two parliamentarians charged in connection with the deadly Beirut port blast of 2020, a judicial source said.

Reuters · Aug 11, 2022