In Lebanon, pharmacies are on strike to protest a severe medicine shortage whereas a specific type of people has open access to vital medication simply by being members of a political group.
A shocking video circulated on social media this week showing how controlled and divided Lebanon has become. If a cancer patient needs medicine, they can only acquire it through Hezbollah. As the video shows, they will need a special “Nour” card to prove they are affiliated with Hezbollah.
According to Nida Al-Watan, this “Nour” card is carried by over 80,000 Hezbollah employees and militants.
It is no secret that the Lebanese Health Ministry is practically in the hands of Hezbollah. That is reportedly why the United States avoided funding the Health Ministry during its COVID-19 response in Lebanon.
Last year, documents from the Health Ministry, run by pro-Hezbollah minister Hamad Hassan, proved that Hezbollah-affiliated hospitals receive more funding from the Lebanese government than any others, even those that were damaged or impacted by the August 4 Explosion.
And with its parallel economy, which includes freely operating Al-Qard Al-Hassan without the state control, Hezbollah had previously issued a “Sajjad” card that allowed its members and supporters to buy food and goods at more affordable prices.
A state within a state
The Iran-backed party denies having such massive control of Lebanon despite the evidence. Whereas it is primarily responsible for draining crisis-stricken Lebanon of its essentials by hoarding them for its own people and smuggling fuel and goods to Syria.
Instead, it encourages Iran-made medicine and threatens to bring fuel from Iran to the Beirut Port, and then openly dares the Lebanese government to stop them.
All the while, it denies having authority over the Beirut Port, one which somehow stored massive amounts of ammonium nitrate that destroyed half the capital.
After the pubic exposure of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which has continued to operate without the Lebanese authorities’ intervention to date, this video comes to expose more of Hezbollah’s “state within the state” activities in Lebanon.
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