Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Lebanon marks a somber Ramadan this year 

Lebanon marks a somber Ramadan this year 

It is a somber Ramadan for many in Lebanon, including 30-year-old Sherine, who works in a luxury boutique and used to be part of the middle class, which today hardly exists.
“We started preparations more than ten days before Ramadan. My sister, my mother and I would get together to make fatayers, rakakats and sambousseks, which we would put in the freezer to fry at the break of the fast to accompany other dishes. This year, we will replace them with chips and I’m sure we won’t be able to eat desserts or invite family as we used to,” she said.

For more than three years, the land of the Cedar has been facing one of the world’s biggest economic crisis since the 19th century, according to the World Bank. The dollar has gone from a fixed rate of 1,500 Lebanese pounds in 2019 to more than 140,000 LBP this year.

Known as the Switzerland of the Middle East, the country’s banking system has completely collapsed. For more than three years, depositors have not had access to their bank accounts and more than 82 percent of Lebanese live in multidimensional poverty according to the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

A UN report published earlier this week ranks Lebanon as the second saddest country in the world, after Afghanistan.

“For the last three years, things have been getting worse and we haven’t hit rock bottom yet. With the lack of resources we are currently suffering from, we are even losing our traditions,” said Sherine, who used to love the family gatherings during the holy month, which are now no longer possible.

A traditional iftar spread in Lebanon comprises jallab (raisin) syrup, Hindi tamer (tamarind) or amareddine (dried apricots), soup, salad, a meat and rice dish, appetizers such as rakakats, baba ghanoush, hummus and stuffed vine leaves, and a dessert usually based on fior di latte (a type of cheese).

“At current prices, it costs around 100,000 LBP every day for a proper Ramadan meal. We are a family of five. How can I invite friends or relatives?” Sherine laments.

In Nabaa, one of Beirut’s poorest neighborhoods, people look up to the sky when they think of the meals to be prepared. “We are relying on providence,” they say.

Noura, who works as a cashier in a local supermarket, said: “This week we didn’t offer any chicken or meat. Our customers can’t even afford to buy a can of tuna anymore, how do you expect them to buy meat? Before the crisis, a bag of bread cost LBP 1,500, today it is LBP 55,000. All other products have followed the dollar rate.”

In a small shop selling a variety of items, Nazir, a father of five children aged between 7 and 16, is pensive. “Eating has become secondary for us. This morning I received a visit from the owner of the flat. He gave me an ultimatum: I have to leave the house at the end of the month. I was paying $50 a month in rent, now he’s asking me for $200. I don’t have that money and I’m unable to get it. I am an employee in this shop and I earn a very small salary. My children eat twice a day. We haven’t eaten meat for months. I try to buy vegetables once a fortnight. As far as fruit is concerned, when I can afford it, I buy bananas. These are the cheapest fruits. And things won’t change for us for Ramadan,” he said.

In the same neighborhood, Bilel, an employee of a fruit and vegetable shop, said that “many customers buy on credit. We have the cheapest shop in the area and our customers buy much less than before. They either buy fruit and vegetables one by one, or they buy no more than a kilo.”

Tarek, in his thirties, has just got married. He is a welder and struggles to make ends meet. “It’s shameful! I even buy the little horns of fresh chillies one by one. But I have no choice. On top of that, I turned off the generator because I can’t afford it.”

For more than two years, the Lebanese people have been living with almost no electricity. They rely on district generators whose subscription follows the price of crude oil, which has soared with the war in Ukraine over the past year. A recent UN study points out that the remaining middle-class households use 44 percent of their income to pay for the generator subscription. The less affluent prefer to cut off the subscription or share the equivalent of 2 or 3 amperes with their neighbors, which allows them to light a lamp after dark.

Fadi Ghazzaoui is the head of an organization called Ras el-Nabeh Initiative — a collective that helps the inhabitants of this old district of Beirut, which has always been home to an educated middle class living in dignity. But this is no longer the case.

“People lack everything. We help hundreds of people who live in the neighborhood. Some of them have cut their subscription to the generator. Others cannot afford to buy gas cylinders for cookers, so they cannot prepare hot food. Now people are relying on charity food banks to survive, but if they don’t have gas, how will they cook their food?” he said.

Ghazzaoui said that the people he works with can no longer afford to buy medicine or visit a doctor. “They live with the fear of getting sick, because they know they can’t afford to go to hospital. We try to intervene as much as possible.”

“In Beirut, thousands of families rely on the charity food banks to be able to eat. For Ramadan, many NGOs and mosques will be distributing hot food, no doubt with meat or chicken, fruit or an oriental dessert,” he said.

Fifty-seven-year-old Noha and her husband, both teachers, and their 19-year-old daughter have been helped by the Ras el-Nabeh Initiative. “We own a small house. Until the crisis, we lived with dignity. We were not rich, but we did not need anyone. My husband and I were working. Now my husband has retired and I have been unemployed since the crisis. I currently share 5 amps of generator with three neighbors. I cook once every three days to save gas. I mainly prepare lentils, rice, pasta, which is what we get at the food banks,” she said.

Her daughter achieved outstanding results in her baccalaureate and was awarded a scholarship to one of the leading universities in Beirut. “She dreams of becoming a doctor and I will do anything to make her happy. Right now, everything is expensive and I am in debt to buy her sanitary towels. I try to provide her with pocket money, but she often goes to university without having enough money in her bag to buy a coffee,” said Noha, who stopped driving her car because she could no longer afford petrol.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×