Sally Hafez (center), flanked by activists, looks at her phone Wednesday after breaking into a BLOM Bank branch in Beirut, Lebanon, brandishing what she said was a toy gun and taking $13,000 from her savings account in a trap.
Hussain Mala/AP
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Sally Hafez (center), flanked by activists, looks at her phone Wednesday after breaking into a BLOM Bank branch in Beirut, Lebanon, brandishing what she said was a toy gun and taking $13,000 from her savings account in a trap.
Hussain Mala/AP
BEIRUT — A woman, accompanied by activists and brandishing what she said was a toy gun, stormed into a Beirut bank branch on Wednesday, taking $13,000 of her savings.
Sally Hafez told local Al-Jadeed TV that she needed the money to finance her sister’s cancer treatment. She said she visited the bank several times to ask for money and was told she could only receive $200 a month in Lebanese pounds. Hafez said the toy gun belonged to her nephew.
“Earlier, I asked the head of the branch for my money and told him that my sister was dying, there was no time left,” she said in an interview. “I’ve reached a point where I have nothing left to lose.”
Since 2019, banks in Lebanon have imposed strict restrictions on foreign currency withdrawals, tying up the savings of millions of people. About three-quarters of the population have fallen into poverty as the tiny Mediterranean country’s economy continues to grow.
Hafez and activists from a group called Depositors’ Cry entered the BLOM Bank branch and broke into the manager’s office. They forced bank employees to hand over 12,000 dollars and the equivalent of about 1,000 dollars in Lebanese pounds.
Hafez said she had a total of $20,000 in savings in that bank. She said she had already sold many of her personal belongings and was considering selling a kidney to fund her 23-year-old sister’s cancer treatment.
A Lebanese policeman stands guard near a window that depositors broke to get out of a bank after attacking him while trying to get their money, in Beirut.
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A Lebanese policeman stands guard near a window that depositors broke to get out of a bank after attacking him while trying to get their money, in Beirut.
Hussain Mala/AP
Nadine Nakhal, a customer at the bank, said the attackers “poured petrol all over the inside, took out a lighter and threatened to set it on fire”. According to her, a woman with a gun threatened to shoot the manager if she did not receive the money.
In a live video posted on her Facebook account, Hafez said she meant no harm. “I didn’t break into the bank to kill or set someone on fire,” she said. “I’m here to get my rights.”
Hafez has been hailed as a hero on social media in Lebanon as many residents of the small, crisis-hit country struggle to make ends meet and recoup their savings. She urged others to take similar measures to recover their savings.
Some of the activists entered the bank with Hafez, while others staged a protest at the entrance. According to witnesses, Hafez eventually left with the cash in a plastic bag.
Security forces stationed outside arrested several activists, including a man with what appeared to be a gun. It was not immediately clear if it was also a toy gun.
Meanwhile, Alaa Horchid, who heads the Depositors’ Cry protest group, said a man who communicated and coordinated with the group broke into a bank in the mountain town of Alei to recover his savings. Local media reported that the man walked into the BankMed branch alone with an unloaded gun but was unable to retrieve his savings until he was apprehended.
Both incidents came weeks after a food delivery driver stormed a branch of another bank in Beirut and held 10 people hostage for seven hours, demanding tens of thousands of dollars in his seized savings. Most hailed him as a hero.
“There is no government, no economic recovery plan, and few reserves left,” Horchid told the AP, adding that people had no choice but to “take matters into their own hands.”
“These people have worked for decades, but not for lords to build palaces until they can afford a bottle of medicine.”
On Wednesday night, activists blocked a main road in Beirut outside a police barracks, detaining two activists who had stormed a bank earlier in the day with Hafez. The protesters demanded the immediate release of the two men.
Lebanon has struggled for more than two years to implement key reforms in its battered banking sector and economy. It has so far failed to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a recovery program that would unlock billions of dollars in international loans and aid to make the country viable again. His government has been struggling to function as a caretaker since May, and the newly elected parliament remains deeply divided.
Meanwhile, millions struggle with rampant power outages and soaring inflation.
“We need to put an end to everything that is happening to us in this country,” Nahal said. “Everyone’s money is stuck in the banks, and in this case it’s someone who’s sick. We need to find a solution.”
