Issam Khamis, a father of three young daughters, left his home on Sunday in order to purchase basic food necessities for his family from the supermarket, right before the country’s lockdown curfew, but he never returned home.
Issam was riding his motorcycle when he found himself being followed by another motorcycle driver who managed to get a hold of his bag.
The attempted robbery resulted in Issam falling off his motorcycle and sustaining a severe injury to the head.
For ten days, the father of three was edging between life and death in the hospital before he passed away due to the severity of his injuries. Up until now, no arrest has been announced.
The Lebanese public took to social media to express their outrage at the announcement of Issam’s death. They called it a killing by wicked and coward thugs who were despicable enough to steal the little from a humble man and render orphans his daughters.
Ten days through and no arrest being made, people have become suspicious of the perpetrators being protected by some political party they belong to.
Crime rates have shot up during 2020 as Lebanon endures its worst economic turmoil since the 1975-1990 civil war.
However, not all these thefts were driven by hunger or poverty, nor could be classified as “Hunger Crimes” as dubbed by local media.
Within weeks following the August 4 blast, over 110 thieves of Blast-devastated homes in Beirut were arrested. Just a week ago, a gang behind hundreds of thefts was arrested by the ISF.
Some people and not a few have been taking the opportunity of the country’s chaos and lack of government to steal, not from the thieves that robbed the country, but from the vulnerable, the victim, and the exposed.
Only days before 2021, surveillance cameras caught on tape the moment when a pharmacy was robbed at gunpoint in Zahle.
Thieves dealt the owner of the pharmacy a blow to his head with a gun before stealing a Jeep Cherokee, a Suzuki SUV, two cell phones, and money from the pharmacy’s safe.
These are not hungry people stealing and assaulting for their basic needs.
On the other side, there have been reports of need-driven thefts for basic medicines, diapers, baby formula, and cash to feed impoverished families, some involve children stealing and getting arrested.
The Lebanese population is desperate for a mindfulness awakening of the rulers that are prioritizing their own political needs, while the country has been spiraling quickly into a considerably less safe environment than it was.
It has prompted some foreign government authorities, such as the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO), to warn travelers to Lebanon of the drastic increase in theft and bag snatching, including by criminals on motorbikes, and to avoid overt displays of wealth and traveling alone at night.
A couple of years ago, such warnings did not exist in Beirut, which proves the downfall in street safety in a city that was famous for its affluence and attractiveness to tourists worldwide.
