“I’m Sally Hafez, I came today to recover the money of my sister who is dying in the hospital,” the young woman says in the video.
A Lebanese woman broke into a Beirut bank today and made off with several thousand dollars, saying she wanted to pay for the medical expenses of her cancer-stricken sister, in a country facing a severe economic and financial crisis.
This incident as well as another one like it that also took place today show the desperation of many citizens in the face of the inability to withdraw their deposits that have been blocked in banks for three years. The Lebanese pound has lost at least 90% of its value and 80% of the population has been plunged into poverty since 2019.
In images of the robbery that she broadcast live on social media, Sally Hafez can be heard shouting at employees at a Blom Bank branch to release a sum of money to her.
“I’m Sally Hafez, I came today to recover the money of my sister who is dying in the hospital,” the young woman says in the video.
“I’m not here to kill or set fire… I’m here to claim what I’m entitled to,” he adds.
In an interview she gave to local media after her action, Sally Hafez says she took about 13,000 of her family’s 20,000 euro deposits in the bank. Her sister’s medical expenses amount to 50,000 euros, she clarifies.
According to an AFP correspondent on the ground, gasoline had been spilled at the scene and a pistol was found on the ground. Sally Hafez states that it was a plastic toy borrowed from her nephew.
Sally and her alleged accomplices managed to escape through a window before security arrived. The robbery lasted less than an hour.
Also today, a man broke into a bank in the town of Alei, northeast of the capital, according to the National Information Agency (Ani).
The man was arrested, the official news agency added, without specifying whether he managed to withdraw any money.
Sally Hafez, a 28-year-old architect, is an activist in the protest movement that broke out in October 2019 against the political class, her sister Zeina told AFP. According to her, the family did not know about her intention to ‘invade’ the bank.
She was hailed as a hero by many netizens in Lebanon, where images of the young woman standing on a desk circulated on social media.
“Thank you! Two weeks ago, I went to Blom Bank crying. I needed the money for an operation,” wrote one user.
Similar incidents have been happening regularly since 2019 between bank employees and depositors who cannot get their money.
Last month, a depositor was mobbed after he stormed a Beirut bank, demanding, with a rifle in hand, his €200,000-plus deposits to pay his father’s hospital bills.
Eventually the bank gave him almost 30,000 euros and the man handed himself over to the authorities. He was not prosecuted.
In January, another depositor took hostages at a bank in the eastern part of the country. According to local media, he eventually recovered some of his money before handing himself over to the police.
RES-EMP
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
