At a time when the COVID-19 vaccination process is proceeding at a slow pace in Lebanon, the Minister of Health in the caretaker government, Hamad Hassan, announced from Damascus, a health disaster hitting Lebanon, a crisis threatening the population: lack oxygen in hospitals. Damascus is ready to offer a donation to Lebanon consisting of 75 tons of oxygen divided into three batches that will arrive within three days at a rate of 25 tons per day. “If the remaining and sufficient quantities were exhausted in Lebanon, we would have lost thousands of lives, God forbid. We ​​would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to the President and the Syrian government, ” Hassan affirmed during a press conference with his Syrian counterpart.

In an irrelevant context, the head of the Syndicate of Private Hospital Owners in Lebanon, Suleiman Haroun, denied via Twitter the existence of an oxygen crisis in hospitals, confirming that there are two oxygen production plants in Lebanon that meet the demand. The head of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Representative Assem Araji, was also surprised by the oxygen crisis latter. Moreover, manufacturers producing oxygen clarified that they are working at a maximum capacity to ensure the needs of the hospitals, while several hospitals denied what the Minister of Health promoted, which raised question marks, noting that Syria has been under economic siege and a devastating war for more than ten years, its national currency has collapsed by many times in comparison with the Lebanese pound. So what is the goal of thanking Syria for saving Lebanon from an “artificial” oxygen crisis no one heard about?

Such a “gift” raises question: Is oxygen exchanged for gasoline and vaccines?