A deep-rooted network of corruption and smuggling in Lebanon’s pharmaceutical sector has flooded the market with counterfeit medicines, seriously endangering public health.

Lebanon faces escalating political tensions as PM Nawaf Salam pushes to centralize military authority and disarm Hezbollah, whose refusal and allied resistance deepen divisions and threaten the fragile ceasefire and national stability.

Although the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which oversaw drug production and smuggling, has fallen, remnants of his networks are still active and continue to pose a threat to Syria’s neighbors, especially Jordan.

Since 2019, Lebanese depositors have been waiting to recover their funds trapped in the banking system — even gradually — through laws that could be part of any financial reform plan by the new government led by Nawaf Salam.

Following al-Assad’s fall, Lebanon and Syria are moving to formally demarcate their disputed border, aiming to assert sovereignty and curb smuggling with international support.