It was a mixed bag on the airwaves last night, with news that the government may pause rolling blackouts for Eid El Adha and the risk of an all out war between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel catching the attention of the nation’s talking heads.
The lights to stay on during Eid? “The electricity load-shedding plan will be suspended during the Eid holiday,” Sherif Amer said on Yahduth Fi Masr, citing unnamed sources (watch, runtime: 0:37). He added that no official statement has been issued yet and that the suspension would start on Thursday. Cabinet spokesperson Mohamed Homsani also chimed in to tell Ahmed Moussa that “if [such] a decision is made, it will be announced immediately” (watch, runtime: 1:58) The government is “seeking to increase the Electricity Holding Company’s revenue streams [to be able] to end load shedding by the end of this year,” Homsani added.
“The Lebanese front is more dangerous than the Gaza front,” military strategist and commentator Samir Ragheb told Amer over the phone (watch, runtime: 6:33). Ragheb explained that “Hezbollah will not start a full-scale war with Israel to avoid American support for Israel, while Israel hopes Hezbollah will start a full-scale war to gain American backing.”
“If the situation continues like this, we might see a repeat of the 2006 scenario in Lebanon, with Israel potentially imposing collective punishment on the Lebanese people,” Ragheb warned. Tensions on Israel’s border with Lebanon was also a hot topic on Lobna Assal’s Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 8:26).