A recent report showed that about one million Israelis called the psychological support line of the “Eran” service. Asking for help since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
The non-profit organization that provides psychological first aid services said in a report issued on Tuesday that it had dealt with 21,829 calls related to suicidal thoughts, intentions, or actions since October 7, while these calls were concentrated among teenagers and young adults, and feelings of loneliness were on the rise.
“The three years of war have confronted us with a harsh and persistent reality,” said David Coren, the organization’s CEO. The volume of communications peaked during the first two years of the war, and declined slightly in the third year, but indicators indicate, according to the report, continued psychological distress and increasing feelings of loneliness among the general population.
During the past three years, 1,850 trained volunteers, supported by cadres of mental health specialists, responded to 928,911 requests for assistance, including 774,604 phone calls, and 154,307 digital communications via WhatsApp, chat, text messages and email.
According to the report, in the first months of the war, communications were dominated by cases of severe shock, panic attacks, and sadness. Over time, this immediate state of panic turned into a feeling of loneliness and chronic psychological distress.
Contacts related to loneliness rose significantly among the general population, from about 28 percent of contacts in the first year to 41 percent in the third year, becoming the most common problem. “Aran” specialists indicated that this reflects the psychological accumulation resulting from the extended state of uncertainty, family pressures, and disruption of social lifestyles.
Requests for help from children, adolescents and young people up to the age of 24 also rose steadily over the three years, eventually accounting for nearly a quarter of the total communications received by the organization. Among this age group, the percentage of communications that included suicidal thoughts, intentions, or actions increased from 2.6 percent in the first year to 4.4 percent in the third year.
At the population level as a whole, the organization dealt with 21,829 suicide-related calls during the three years, representing about 2.35 percent of the total requests for help.
The percentage of communications that included suicidal thoughts, intentions, or actions increased from 2 percent of the total communications in the first year to 2.2 percent in the second year and 2.83 percent in the third year.
Organization officials emphasized that this number only represents the percentage of calls to the helpline in which suicidal implications were expressed, and that it is impossible to draw concrete conclusions about changes in actual suicidal behavior in Israel.
Officials said that suicide-related distress arises from a complex combination of risk factors, life circumstances, and personal or social characteristics, rather than from a single, isolated cause.
The results also monitored the emotional and psychological pressures experienced by members of the military institution. The organization answered 160,000 calls from active-duty soldiers and reservists over the course of the war, with men making up 60 percent of these calls.
Soldiers reported a significant increase in feelings of isolation (41 percent) of military contacts in both the second and third years.
Aran specialists pointed out that soldiers may have difficulty bridging the gap between their extensive military experiences and their lives at home, and they often suffer from severe isolation. In addition, reports of assault and sexual violence among military service members rose from 5 percent in the first year to 10 percent in the second year, before declining slightly to 8 percent in the third year.
Among adults ages 35 to 44, a category that includes many parents and active reservists, the number of people seeking help has steadily increased each year. Women accounted for 56 percent of the total contacts from the general population.
Sheri Daniels, from Aran, said: “The report reminds us that, especially in light of the illusion of returning to routine, it is necessary to pay attention to people who are suffering and recognize signs of distress.” She urged the public to "ask people directly about suicide" when any concerns arise.
“Listen carefully,” Daniels said. This way we can help before their distress gets worse.”
The Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, Joe Al-Saddi, transferred the electricity crisis from the Department of Technical and Financial Remedies to within the Council of Ministers, by announcing his abstention from attending government sessions “until it assumes its responsibilities towards the energy sector, and takes the decisions required to ensure continuity of nutrition.”
Al-Saddi said, during a press conference, that he decided “at this stage” not to attend the Council of Ministers sessions, until “the government assumes its responsibilities towards the energy sector, and seriously deals with the proposals presented to ensure the continuity of electricity and protect citizens from additional burdens.”
He stressed that his decision “is not an abdication of responsibility,” stressing that he will continue to exercise his full responsibilities in the ministry and work to protect the continuity of public facilities and the rights of citizens.
Itikaf Saddi brings back to the forefront a political method used by ministers and heads of government in previous stages, although this step does not constitute a stand-alone constitutional case, nor does it entail legal consequences like those that result from resignation.
Disagreement over the cost of electricity
Al-Sadi's escalation came after a series of demands he submitted to the government to address the financial situation of the Electricité du Liban Corporation, in light of the rise in fuel prices and the decline in the ability to secure the fuel necessary for production.
He said that he asked ministries and public institutions to pay their electricity bills, but the response was “partial and one-time,” asking: “How do we ask the citizen to pay his bill in full, while state institutions are not carrying out their duties?”
He also revealed that he asked the government to pay the value of the electricity charged by the Electricity Corporation as a result of exemptions related to those affected by the war, in order to use this money to buy fuel and secure food, pointing out that this request did not receive a response.
Al-Saddi placed the issue within a broader framework of his ministry’s responsibility, considering that the government provides the necessary funds for other sectors to help the affected and displaced people, while the cost of electricity provided to them is not covered, stressing that the Electricité du Liban “is a public institution like government hospitals and other state institutions.”
Moving tariff
In parallel with the financial dispute, Al-Saddi re-introduced the adoption of a moving electricity tariff linked to changes in fuel prices, considering it one of the reform demands that allows maintaining the financial sustainability of the Electricité du Liban and increasing feeding hours, thus reducing the cost to the citizen, especially since state electricity remains less expensive than private generators.
He said that the ministry “warned, presented numbers, proposed solutions, and waited for solutions,” but the last ministerial meeting did not, according to him, result in an actual response to the proposals it presented.
He added: “I am the Minister of Energy, and I carry out my duties in the ministry to implement and respect the laws, ensure the operation of the public facility at the lowest cost, and ensure continuity of services for the citizen,” considering that ministerial responsibility is not limited to attending sessions in which the energy file, according to his opinion, does not receive the attention that the crisis requires.
There is no constitutional provision for “itikaf”
Al-Sadi’s decision once again opens the discussion about the concept of “religion” in the Lebanese system, and whether it entails any change in the legal status of the minister.
In this context, constitutional expert Saeed Malek explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that “I’tikaf is not a term found in the Lebanese Constitution, but it is a way of performing and expressing a position,” noting that political experience has made it a position taken by an official to express his rejection of what happened or the failure to implement a decision that was previously taken.
Malik said that seclusion is “a common matter, even if it is unconstitutional,” and that it is “a political position, nothing more and nothing less, that does not lead to any legal consequences.” Rather, it reflects the official’s objection to a political reality or to the failure to implement a decision, and its duration is not time-bound.
In the case of al-Sada, the scope of i'tikaf appears clearly defined; He limited him to not attending Council of Ministers sessions, and at the same time stressed that he would continue to exercise his ministerial responsibilities, which separated his step from resignation and placed it within the framework of political objection from within the government.
Boutros Harb...the closest precedent
Al-Saddi’s itikaf does not constitute a ministerial precedent in Lebanon. On August 13, 2015, the then Minister of Communications, Boutros Harb, announced his retirement from attending government sessions, in protest against its inability to make decisions, linking his return to the presence of a serious approach to restore the Council’s ability to make decisions.
Group retreats
Lebanese governments have also known cases of collective isolation or boycott, although they differ from the case of a minister who takes the decision alone.
In late 2005, five ministers representing the Amal Movement and Hezbollah suspended their participation in Fouad Siniora’s government, in a political crisis that lasted weeks, before they returned to the Council of Ministers after settling the differences that led to the retreat.
A recent model was repeated in Najib Mikati’s government in 2021, when the ministers of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah boycotted the Cabinet sessions against the backdrop of a dispute over the investigation into the Beirut port explosion.
An older political custom
The use of “itikaf” in Lebanon remains historically linked more to heads of government. In 1969, Prime Minister Rashid Karami resorted to seclusion that lasted for months against the backdrop of clashes between the army and Palestinian factions, while Saeb Salam secluded himself in 1973 in the midst of a political dispute that followed an Israeli assassination of Palestinian leaders in Beirut, before his seclusion ended with his resignation.
In the post-Taif Agreement period, Rafik Hariri used itikaf as a pressure card in 1994, while Tammam Salam in 2015 abstained for a period from calling the Council of Ministers to convene during the waste crisis.
The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus suspended 4 sessions of the trials of the second batch within the process of transitional justice, in order to complete “reporting, claiming, and defense procedures,” according to the “National Authority for Transitional Justice” in Syria.
The court reported that the sessions included the reading of indictments for a number of those suspected of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during the era of the former regime, including a forensic doctor and a photographer accused of concealing the identity of torture victims detainees in the regime’s prisons.
The Fourth Criminal Court specialized in transitional justice in Damascus held four public sessions on Monday, during which the case papers were read to eleven defendants, four of whom attended, and seven who were hidden from sight. To complete the invitation procedures, the sessions were postponed to the 20th and 21st of October.
According to the National Authority for Transitional Justice in Syria, the fourth session considered the accusations against the forensic doctor, an officer in the former regime forces with the rank of colonel, Ayman Khalo bin Muhammad. The Public Prosecution confirmed that the accused was involved in “premeditated and premeditated crimes of premeditated murder, interference in torture leading to death, forced disappearance, conducting examinations of the bodies of detainees in hospitals in coordination with the security services, and issuing false medical certificates regarding the causes of death,” according to a statement the authority published, on Tuesday, on its official identifiers.
The Public Prosecution stressed that the crimes committed by Colonel Ayman Khalo amount to “war crimes and crimes against humanity.” The accused, in turn, denied the crimes charged against him, retracting his previous confessions before the court.
In the third session, the military police sergeant, Imad Salah Salah, was accused of photographing and documenting corpses in hospitals, giving them numbers, concealing traces of torture from detainees, and making them anonymous. The Public Prosecution confirmed that the accused committed the acts attributed to him, demanding that the most severe penalties be imposed against him.
In the second session, the court examined the file of the military police official in the previous regime, Akram Salloum Al-Abdullah, along with others who are still in hiding, namely: Jamal Muhammad Abbas, Alaa Ali Ibrahim, and Hossam Abdel-Razzaq Makhlouf. They were charged with premeditated murder and interfering in torture leading to death, which constitutes a crime against humanity and a war crime. The session was adjourned to determine the reporting procedures.
The first session, which was attended by one of the defendants, Sami Gibran, was also adjourned, while Jamal Shreiteh, Mufid Khaddour, Amer Mahmoud Ahmed, and Mahmoud Ali Khalouf, who were accused of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, were absent.
The National Authority for Transitional Justice called on anyone who has reliable information about the whereabouts of the accused who are in hiding to inform the judicial authorities or the approved official channels, in order to help complete the justice procedures.
The director of the Accountability and Accountability Department at the Commission, lawyer Radif Mustafa, said that the files examined by the court show “the importance of investigating the various roles that individuals may have played within the system of violations.” He stressed in a statement published by the authority on Tuesday that “the court alone has the jurisdiction to determine criminal responsibility, based on evidence and guarantees of a fair trial.”
According to Mustafa, “revealing the truth and holding those responsible accountable is not limited to those who issued orders or committed the violation directly, but rather includes every role whose responsibility is proven by evidence and the law, without selectivity, revenge, or collective responsibility.”
As a reminder, the transitional justice process began last April with the trial of a number of the most prominent symbols of the former regime, and the first batch began with the trial of Brigadier General Atef Najeeb, the military security official in Daraa in 2011, Bashar and Maher al-Assad, and a number of leaders.
Last August, the court issued death sentences in absentia against Bashar and Maher al-Assad, and in presence against Atef Najib, the former head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa, and Wassim al-Assad, who is accused of committing grave violations against the Syrian people. Abdel Nasser Baraki, while the former Mufti of the Republic, Mohamed Hassoun, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
