Lebanon health minister had to rush to Syria to secure the oxygen because of Syria’s ban

Contrary to what the Lebanese were told yesterday, that the Syrian authorities authorized the supply of 75 tons of oxygen to Lebanon, out of fear for the life of their sick “brothers” , the real story is that the Syrian regime had ordered the factory that is jointly owned by Lebanese and Syrian businessmen to ban exports of this commodity. and restrict its use for local needs. This is what prompted Minister of Health Hamad Hassan to go immediately to meet with his Syrian counterpart in an effort to find a solution to the issue, especially after a ship that was loaded with oxygen was unable to dock and unload its cargo in Lebanon due to severe weather conditions . Dr. Hassan, met his Syrian counterpart, Dr. Hassan Al-Ghobash, yesterday and in a joint press conference, Dr Hassan revealed the reason for the oxygen shortage and said that Syria agreed to send 25 tons per day for a period of three days, stressing this is very small amount for Lebanon .

What Hassan did not explain to the Lebanese people is that Syria has cut off the oxygen from us, and that “Lebanon needs 120 tons of oxygen daily because of the Corona crisis. ” Hospital Syndicate President Suleiman Haroun told Al-Nahar . He said that “oxygen used to be secured through two factories, the one in Jiyyeh, south of Beirut and the other in Syria, which used to ship 50 tons daily. But the Syrian regime made a decision last Tuesday to ban the export of oxygen to Lebanon and restrict its use to the Syrian patients .

The jointly owned Syrian company quickly informed Dr Hassan and that is exactly why he had to rush to Syria on Wednesday morning to ensure continued supply .

Everything in Lebanon is politicized . Dr Hassan represents Hezbollah in the caretaker cabinet of PM Hassan Diab . Hezbollah is allied with the Syrian regime and according to analysts Hezbollah wanted to prove to the Lebanese that the Syrians really care about their brothers in Lebanon, but this seems to have backfired .

Originally published in An Nahar in Arabic