It's no secret, most of us would like to stay in our own home as we age. Yet, sometimes our loved ones just need a little extra help to remain comfortable at home. That's where Always Best Care can help....we are dedicated to exceeding expectations....always
They say that your golden years are the best years of your life. For most older Americans, that's how it should be - a time to relax, reflect, and live life in a familiar place. After all, senior citizens in the U.S. have worked tirelessly to build a better economy, serve their communities, and raise families.
However, as seniors grow older, completing daily tasks like showering and enjoying activities such as visiting the historic Place Amin El Hafez gets harder without someone by their side. Unfortunately, many older Americans aren't able to rely on their adult children for help. The reality in today's world is that family members do not have the skills or time to dedicate to caring for their parents. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.
Our in-home care services are for people who prefer to stay at home as they grow older but need ongoing care that family or friends cannot provide. More and more older adults prefer to live far away from long-term, institutionalized facilities and closer to the place where they feel most comfortable - their home. Home care in Lebanon, IN is a safe, effective way to give your loved ones the care they need when they need it the most.
Home Care Services
Service AreasSince 1996, Always Best Care has provided non-medical in-home care for seniors to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle as they get older. We are proud to have helped more than 25,000 seniors maintain higher levels of dignity and respect. We focus on providing seniors with the highest level of in-home care available so that they may live happily and independently.
Unlike some senior care companies, we genuinely want to be included in our clients' lives. We believe that personalized care is always the better option over a "one size fits all" approach. To make sure our senior clients receive the best care possible, we pair them with compassionate caregivers who understand their unique needs. That way, they may provide care accordingly without compromising their wellbeing.
The Always Best Care difference lies in life's little moments - where compassionate care and trustworthy experience come together to help seniors live a fruitful, healthy life. Whether you are an aging adult that can't quite keep up with life's daily tasks or the child of a senior who needs regular in-home services, Always Best Care is here to help.
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Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it is especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.
When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.
The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.
At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one gets older, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.
To give our senior clients the best care possible, we offer a full spectrum of in-home care services:
If your senior loved one has specific care needs, our personal care services are a great choice to consider. Personal care includes the standard caregiving duties associated with companion care and includes help with tasks such as dressing and grooming. Personal care can also help individuals with chronic conditions like diabetes.
Common personal care services include assistance with:
Sometimes, seniors need helpful reminders to maintain a high quality of life at home. If you or your senior has trouble with everyday tasks like cooking, our home helper services will be very beneficial.
Common home helper care services include assistance with:
Using this kind of care is a fantastic way to make life easier for you or your senior loved one. At Always Best Care, our talented caregivers often fill the role of a companion for seniors. That way, older adults can enjoy their favorite local activities, such as visiting Cedars of God Bsharri with friends while also receiving the care they need daily or weekly.
Common companionship services include:
According to AARP, more than 53 million adults living in the U.S. provide care to someone over 50 years old. Unfortunately, these caregivers experience stress, exhaustion, and even depression. Our respite care services help family caregivers address urgent obligations, spend time with their children, and enjoy nearby activities. Perhaps more importantly, respite care gives family members time to recharge and regroup. Taking personal time to de-stress reduces the risk of caregiver burnout. So, if you've always wanted to eat at the local Ritage Garden or visit Baalbek Roman Ruins, don't feel bad. Doing so is great for both you and your loved one.
At the end of the day, our goal is to become a valuable part of your senior's daily routine. That way, we may help give them the highest quality of life possible. We know that staying at home is important for your loved one, and we are here to help make sure that is possible.
If you have been on the fence about non-medical home care, there has never been a better time than now to give your senior the care, assistance, and companionship they deserve.
Always Best Care in-home services are for older adults who prefer to stay at home but need ongoing care that friends and family cannot provide. In-home care is a safe, effective way for seniors to age gracefully in a familiar place and live independent, non-institutionalized lives. The benefits of non-medical home care are numerous. Here are just a few reasons to consider senior care services from Always Best Care:
According to AARP, 9 out of 10 seniors prefer to age in place within the comfort of their own home. With in-home care, seniors have a way to stay at home, receive the care they need, and maintain a sense of independence, improving overall wellness.
If you or a member of your family have assumed the role of caregiver for your senior loved one, you know how stressful the job can be. Between caregiver burnout and constant worry, being a family caregiver is hard. In-home care relieves your burden and gives you peace of mind knowing that your older family member is in expert hands.
Unlike nursing homes, where the staff and residents rotate frequently, seniors can foster new friendships and build bonds with their caregiver. Seniors who socialize on a regular basis are often happier, which fosters positivity and leads to increased wellbeing.
No two seniors need the same kind of in-home care assistance. That is why each of our Care Plans is tailored to meet our client's individual needs. We offer plans that cover everything from light housekeeping to more involved duties like transportation to doctor's appointments. Our Care Coordinators will work closely with you to develop a personalized plan to ensure your senior's needs are exceeded.
Always Best Care offers a full array of care options for patients at all levels of health. With our trusted elderly care services, your loved one will receive the level of care necessary for them to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
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While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit - something that is unavailable to many older people today.
In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a strange nursing home, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.
How much does a senior's home truly mean to them?
A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, then, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old.
With the help of elderly care in Lebanon, IN, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.
Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors.
Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.
For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like a nursing home. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.
More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier and more affordable to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, seniors who age in the comfort of their homes can save thousands of dollars per month.
In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, are often less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.
With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.
In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.
Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.
At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.
In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:
When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.
Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.
At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Lebanon, IN understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.
Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.
Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.
While it's true that many seniors prefer to age at home, sometimes in-home care isn't the best fit. For those seniors and their families, choosing an assisted living facility makes more sense. Unfortunately, finding the optimal care facility is easier said than done in today's day and age. That's when Always Best Care's assisted living referral services begin to make a lot of sense.
Assisted living is a form of housing intended for seniors who require varying degrees of medical and personal attention. Accommodations may include single rooms, apartments, or shared living arrangements. Assisted living communities are typically designed to resemble a home-like environment and are physically constructed to encourage the independence of residents.
At assisted living communities, seniors receive help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating. They may also benefit from coordination of services with outside healthcare providers, and monitoring of resident activities to ensure their health, safety, and well-being. Caregivers who work at assisted living communities can also provide medication administration and personal care services for older adults.
Other services offered within assisted living communities can include some or all of the following:
At Always Best Care, our representatives can match your senior's emotional, physical, and financial needs with viable assisted living communities nearby. Results are based on comparative data, so you can select the best choice for you or your loved one.
Always Best Care works closely with local senior living communities to gain valuable knowledge that we then use to help seniors and their loved ones make informed decisions. This information can include basic care and rent, resident availability, and services provided. Because Always Best Care is compensated by these communities, we provide senior living referral services at no extra cost to you.
Some of the most popular assisted living communities to consider in our area include the following:
For many seniors, moving into a senior living community revolves around how and when they want to make a transition to more involved care. Some seniors are more proactive about transitioning to independent living. Others choose to remain home until their care needs or other requirements are satisfied. Remember - our staff is here to help. Contact our office today to learn more about assisted living communities and how we can find a facility that exceeds your expectations.
The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Always Best Care Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:
A discussion of your needs and how our trained caregivers can offer assistance in the most effective way
A draft of your care plan, which includes highly detailed notes and a framework for the care that you or your senior will receive
Discuss payment options and help coordinate billing with your insurance provider
Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.
If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.
At the end of the day, we only hire the best of the best at Always Best Care. Whether you need home care in Lebanon, IN 24-hours a day or only need a respite for a couple of hours, we are here to serve you.
When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.
An Israeli military official says Israeli naval forces have captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon1:02The Associated PressBATROUN, Lebanon -- Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday, as the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Israel showed few signs of easing.Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken away by a...
An Israeli military official says Israeli naval forces have captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon
BATROUN, Lebanon -- Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday, as the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Israel showed few signs of easing.
Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun on Friday.
“The operative has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently being investigated,” the military official said, without providing the name of the person in detention.
The operation marks the first time Israel has announced it deployed troops deep into northern Lebanon to take a senior Hezbollah operative captive since the conflict between the two sides escalated in late September. Since then, Israeli forces began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and intensified its airstrikes across the country, including southern Beirut and the eastern Bekaa valley, killing most of Hezbollah's senior commanders.
Hezbollah issued a statement describing what happened as a “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area.” The statement did not give details or confirm whether a Hezbollah member was captured by Israel.
Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to The Associated Press that a naval force landed in Batroun, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut, and abducted a Lebanese citizen. Neither gave the man’s identity or said whether he was thought to have links to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. They did not confirm whether the armed men were an Israeli force.
Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP the operation took place at dawn Friday, adding that the captain might have links with Hezbollah. The officials said an investigation is looking into whether the man is linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency and an Israeli force came to rescue him.
Both the military and judicial officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to share details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.
Soon after Israel went public about the operation, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Lebanon’s foreign minister to file a complaint against Israel at the U.N. Security Council.
Israel has carried out in the past commando operations deep inside Lebanon to kidnap or kill Hezbollah and Palestinian officials.
Recounting the event, Lebanese residents from the apartment building where the man was seized said the armed group introduced themselves as state security.
“We were terrified. They were breaking into the apartment next to ours,” Hussein Delbani told The Associated Press near where the man was captured. “I thought a state agency was doing a security operation,” said Delbani, who was displaced from south Lebanon a month ago when the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted.
He said he saw from his balcony people down on the coast and they screamed again for him to go inside.
Hamie told Al-Jadeed the man was a captain of civilian ships. He graduated in 2022 and in late September joined the Batroun's Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute for additional courses. Hamie said that the man lived some 300 meters (980 feet) from the institute.
Hamie's remarks came shortly after two Lebanese journalists posted a video on social media showing what appeared to be about 20 armed men taking away a man from in front a house, his face covered with his shirt.
Kandice Ardiel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon, denied allegations by some local journalists who said that the peacekeepers helped the landing force in the operation. The U.N. mission, known as UNIFIL, has a maritime force that monitors the coast.
"Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and put peacekeepers at risk,” Ardiel said.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles from Lebanon into Israel in solidarity with Hamas immediately after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza. The yearlong cross-border fighting boiled over to full-blown war on Oct. 1, when Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.
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Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Sally Abou Aljoud in Beirut and Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
BATROUN, Lebanon — A Lebanese sea captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on the coast of Batroun town north of Beirut and authorities said Saturday they were investigating whether Israel was involved.Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to the Associated Press that a naval force landed in Batroun, about 30 kilometers (18 ...
BATROUN, Lebanon — A Lebanese sea captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on the coast of Batroun town north of Beirut and authorities said Saturday they were investigating whether Israel was involved.
Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to the Associated Press that a naval force landed in Batroun, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut, and abducted a Lebanese citizen. Neither gave the man’s identity or said whether he was thought to have links to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. They did not confirm whether the armed men were an Israeli force.
Speaking to Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed TV, Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie declined to go into details or answer questions about whether it was thought to be an Israeli operation.
Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP the incident occurred at dawn Friday, adding that the captain might have links with Hezbollah. The officials said an investigation is looking into the man is linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency and an Israeli force came to rescue him.
Both the military and judicial officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to share details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.
Hezbollah issued a statement calling what happened a “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area.” The statement did not give details or confirm whether one of Hezbollah’s members was captured by Israel.
PHOTOS: A sea captain is snatched in Lebanon and officials probe Israel's involvement
Israel’s military said it was looking into local media reports that said its forces captured a senior member of Hezbollah’s naval force during the operation. Israel has carried out in the past commando operations deep inside Lebanon to kidnap or kill Hezbollah and Palestinian officials.
Residents of the apartment building where the man was seized said the armed group introduced themselves as state security.
“We were terrified. They were breaking into the apartment next to ours,” Hussein Delbani told The Associated Press near where the man was captured. “I thought a state agency was doing a security operation,” said Delbani, who was displaced from south Lebanon a month ago when the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted.
He said he saw from his balcony people down on the coast and they screamed again for him to go inside.
Hamie told Al-Jadeed the man was a captain of civilian ships. He graduated in 2022 and in late September joined the Batroun’s Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute for additional courses. Hamie said that the man lived some 300 meters (980 feet) from the institute.
Hamie’s remarks came shortly after two Lebanese journalists posted a video on social media showing what appeared to be about 20 armed men taking away a man from in front a house, his face covered with his shirt.
Kandice Ardiel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon, denied allegations by some local journalists who said that the peacekeepers helped the landing force in the operation. The U.N. mission, known as UNIFIL, has a maritime force that monitors the coast.
“Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and put peacekeepers at risk,” Ardiel said.
Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.
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Israeli media on October 30th leaked the draft of an early proposal for a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel. The plan calls for the implementation of the 18-year UNSC Resolution 1701 that calls for Hezbollah to be removed from South Lebanon and replaced by the Lebanese Army with the help of UN peacekeepers. Because such an agreement has never taken place since 1701's passing in 2006, the draft included a side-deal between the U.S. and Israel where an Independent Monitoring and Enforcement Mechanism (IMEM) is created to ensure that, this ...
Israeli media on October 30th leaked the draft of an early proposal for a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel. The plan calls for the implementation of the 18-year UNSC Resolution 1701 that calls for Hezbollah to be removed from South Lebanon and replaced by the Lebanese Army with the help of UN peacekeepers. Because such an agreement has never taken place since 1701's passing in 2006, the draft included a side-deal between the U.S. and Israel where an Independent Monitoring and Enforcement Mechanism (IMEM) is created to ensure that, this time, Hezbollah actually does evacuate from the South. In it the U.S. recognizes Israel's right to respond to Hezbollah violations and to have military overflights "invisible to the naked eye" over Lebanon.[1]
The draft does not seem to have progressed and indeed some observers said that it was inacceptable to Lebanon, to Hezbollah and, it seems, to Israel. The fighting continues. Catastrophically for a country in deep economic, social, and political crisis, Lebanon is not only technically at war since 1948 with Israel, but since the late 1960s, has served as a convenient battleground for others' wars with Israel, an agenda promoted through the decades by Egypt's Abdel Nasser, the PLO's Arafat, the Assad regime in Syria, and Iran and its main regional proxy Hezbollah.
On October 8, 2023 Hezbollah, with the silence or tacit approval of what passes for a Lebanese state, decided to join the war between Israel and Hamas. After months of degrading and defeating Hamas in Gaza, Israel in the Summer of 2024 turned its attention to Lebanon. First it targeted the Hezbollah leadership and many of its cadres, then it began ground operations on October 1st, securing much of the immediate border area in South Lebanon. Over 1.2 million Lebanese (over 20 percent of the population) has been displaced and the number is climbing. Most are Shia Muslims from the South, Beirut's Dahiyah and the Beqaa Valley. Some have fled into neighboring Syria but most seem to have fled north and west further into Lebanon, from traditional Shia Muslim majority areas into areas inhabited by other Lebanese confessional groups – Sunni Muslims, Druze, and Christians. Those populations have been both welcoming and also extremely nervous about the risk of changing demographics. All three communities have suffered at the hands of or clashed with aggressive Hezbollah supporters in recent years. It seems that even the Assad regime in Syria is nervous about hosting these new guests.[2]
Israel is, not surprisingly, not making it easy for the Lebanese state. By rooting up the entrenched Hezbollah military infrastructure of tunnels, arms caches, and safe havens, it is devastating these Shia-majority areas, turning towns and villages into rubble and in a sense creating a free-fire zone out of what had been Hezbollah's launchpad for rocket fire and invasion into Israel.
Despite the grim situation today, the war in Lebanon will end, perhaps within the next few months. For now, Iran still wants the Lebanon front against Israel active as it decides on its own counterattack against Israel, either directly, or through its pawns in the region, or both. But when the Lebanon War does end, the country will face new dilemmas.
The end of the current war is unlikely to bring real peace to Lebanon. Indeed, Hezbollah is very likely to be both extremely weakened at war's end – weaker than it has been in decades – and also ready to lash out against its enemies inside Lebanon. Pro-Hezbollah propagandists have already bitterly attacked the country's Christian leadership – those Lebanese Christians who are vocal against Hezbollah's weapons – and also hurled vitriol against Christians in South Lebanon who want to be left in peace. An assassination campaign targeting Christian leaders, even figures like Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea or prominent members of the Gemayel family, is quite possible.[3]
In addition to worrying about what Hezbollah will do once the shooting stops with Israel, Lebanese will also face a country which is even poorer and more in crisis than it was in October 2023, with large portions of the South, the East (in the Beqaa Valley), and South Beirut, flattened and uninhabitable.
In 2006, after the month-long Tammuz War with Israel ended, it was Hezbollah that rushed in to rebuild the South – or at least look like it was rebuilding what was destroyed. Senior Hezbollah cleric Nabil Qaouk held a press conference while perched on top of a demolished apartment block in the southern city of Tyre and promised cash payments to locals to help them rebuild, money to come from Hezbollah and Iran but not to be distributed by the Lebanese state.[4]
Eighteen years later, Qaouk is dead; killed, like so many other senior Hezbollah leaders, in an Israeli airstrike. The destruction is much broader and more systematic and the war isn't even over. Israel has also successfully targeted at least some of Hezbollah's coffers and money-making activities. Iran has its own deep financial problems and Lebanon as a whole is much poorer than it was in 2006, even after that war. There is far less left for Hezbollah to leach from the Lebanese milk cow.
There is no doubt that some Western countries will pitch in. France has a soft spot for Lebanon, even for Hezbollah, and can be counted upon to press the Lebanese cause among the EU elite. The United States is a frequent donor to Lebanon. It is also quite possible that Qatar – which is both friendly to Iran and a booster of the Axis of Resistance against Israel – will be generous. Other Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAEd, are unlikely to spend much to support a country still under the thumb of Iran and Hezbollah.
But this war seems very different indeed from the 2006 Lebanon War – longer, precise, more destructive, more definitive. So far, at least a quarter of all buildings – almost 6,000 structures – in Lebanese towns and villages near the Israel border have been destroyed.[5]
A logical way for Lebanon to maximize its chances to rebuild and to flourish is to assemble a government, including a president and military, not under Hezbollah's thumb and to reach a political situation where it is no longer part of the expensive "attack Israel/get beaten and destroyed/get a ceasefire/attack Israel again" cycle of violence and destruction. But that is precisely the scenario that Hezbollah and its Lebanese political allies want to return to, again and again.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
[1] X.com/haningdr/status/1851714716256571698, October 30, 2024.
[2] Hlp.syria-report.com/hlp/lebanese-refugees-in-homs-arouse-fear-of-israeli-airstrikes, October 29, 2024.
[3] X.com/elhaweyah/status/1852319683833118951, November 1, 2024
[4] Npr.org/2006/08/17/5662485/hezbollah-takes-the-lead-in-rebuilding-lebanon, August 17, 2006.
[5] Washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/31/israel-war-lebanon-south-destruction, October 31, 2024.
Two senior advisers to President Biden will arrive in Israel on Thursday to try to close a deal that would end the ...
Two senior advisers to President Biden will arrive in Israel on Thursday to try to close a deal that would end the war in Lebanon and allow displaced civilians from both sides of the border to return to their homes, three sources with direct knowledge of the trip told Axios.
Why it matters: If Biden's senior advisers Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk strike a diplomatic deal between Israel and Hezbollah during their visit, it would significantly de-escalate the regional war in the Middle East for the first time since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Driving the news: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting with several ministers and senior leaders of the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli intelligence services on Tuesday night to discuss the potential deal, Israeli officials said.
"Senior U.S. officials are following up on a range of matters in the region and with Israeli counterparts," a senior U.S. official said.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah announced it's leadership council appointed Naim Qassem to succeed Nasrallah.
The big picture: Hochstein has been working for more than a year on a deal that could end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hochstein visited Beirut last week and got a positive response from Lebanese officials about the possibility of moving toward a ceasefire regardless of the war in Gaza.
Behind the scenes: Israeli officials said the deal being discussed is based on re-implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war in Lebanon.
Zoom in: Two weeks ago, Israel gave the U.S. a document with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon, Axios reported.
What to watch: Hochstein and McGurk are expected to meet with Netanyahu, Gallant and Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Israeli officials said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from a senior U.S. official about U.S. officials traveling to the Middle East this week.
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Oussama Nasr is a former derivatives banker who lives in Beirut.You might have seen headlines on Lebanon’s massive pile of long-defaulted international bonds rallying on Israel’s invasion. Here’s why that isn’t quite as mad...
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Oussama Nasr is a former derivatives banker who lives in Beirut.
You might have seen headlines on Lebanon’s massive pile of long-defaulted international bonds rallying on Israel’s invasion. Here’s why that isn’t quite as mad as it might initially seem.
But first we probably need to explain exactly how Lebanon’s eurobonds with a face value north of $30bn came to trade at 6 cents on the dollar.
After a brutal 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, Lebanon undertook a vast reconstruction program funded largely by the issuance of bonds denominated in US dollars. These bonds were always rated below investment grade, and gradually nearer and nearer to very-junky triple-C levels, as the country’s debt stock mushroomed, its political stability evaporated, its attraction as a tourism destination waned, and its tax collection practices remained close to non-existent.
Offsetting these catastrophic conditions were two factors that helped keep the country going financially:
(i) the availability of support from a number of friendly countries in Europe and the Gulf.
(ii) the presence of a huge, industrious expatriate community who would remit — come rain or shine — about a half-billion US dollars monthly to their relatives in the old country.
However, as the financial situation kept deteriorating and credit rating agency downgrade followed downgrade, the bonds naturally traded at gradually wider spreads.
By early 2020 the country could no longer take the pressure of servicing its debt, and defaulted simultaneously on all its outstanding international bonds worth about $31bn in aggregate. At this point the bonds began trading on a price basis, gradually declining from 40 cents on the dollar or so to just below 6c in recent months.
They have bounced back in the past month to almost 9c, after Israel began its massive campaign against Hizbollah, the dominant militia in the country and its most powerful political party.
Given the scale of the collapse since 2020 this may seem minuscule, but it’s a notable and interesting jump.
(It needs to be stressed that trading volumes are extremely low, and that the ability to liquidate a meaningful block of bonds at this new price is questionable. We’ll nonetheless assume that the price of 9c is “correct”.)
The country’s endemic corruption, lack of governance, ongoing political instability, and continuing absence of any tax base to speak of, ensured that few savvy international investors were interested in Lebanon’s eurobonds at virtually any price.
As a result, Lebanese banks continue to hold a substantial chunk of the total debt stock, and only a few specialised money managers and hedge funds have the enthusiasm to gamble on the potentially mouthwatering returns that could follow an eventual restructuring.
So what does a price of 6c — or alternatively 9c — actually mean for a defaulted sovereign bond?
It should be noted that only countries such as Cuba, Sudan, North Korea and Vietnam (before its reforms) have seen their debts traded at comparable prices. Lebanon, even in the midst of a devastating economic collapse, total political paralysis and an actual war boasts meaningfully higher living standards than those countries, particularly when its gigantic unofficial economy, and the unregistered portion of overseas remittances, are properly accounted for.
Simplifying enormously, you can think of the price of 6 as the probability-weighted average of two outcomes: one in which the country stays a dysfunctional, near-failed state — in which case the debt would eventually become virtually worthless — and another in which at least some hint of prosperity and stability returns, and some kind of debt workout is eventually achieved, which might cause the debt to trade at about 20c (but realistically probably not much higher).
Under this analysis the probability of the first outcome would be close to 70 per cent, while that of the second outcome would be the residual 30 per cent.
If this model is broadly correct, the more recent price of almost 9c would be consistent with a reduction in the first outcome’s probability to 55 per cent and an increase in the second outcome’s probability to 45 per cent.
In other words, the market is now implying a 15 per cent higher probability (in absolute terms) and a 50 per cent higher probability (in relative terms) to the scenario that Lebanon will become a semi-prosperous, semi-peaceful state — even while the Israeli ground operation continues unabated, the country’s economy is paralysed and civilian casualties mount.
Is this increased optimism consistent in any way with the most recent political developments in the country? The credit rating agencies certainly don’t think so. Here’s what Moody’s said in a report earlier this month:
The unfolding conflict within Lebanon’s own territory compounds an already very bleak credit picture and undermines the Lebanese government’s efforts to stabilize the economy through increased dollarization. The conflict’s population displacement will exacerbate weaknesses in the country’s already stressed health and social conditions. Also, a degradation of infrastructure and public services further undermines any prospect of economic recovery in the near term.
That FATF has now placed Lebanon on its “grey list” is another blow to any hopes of its financial system returning to health any time soon.
But bond traders appear to be more optimistic. The new price of 9c suggests that at least some have bought off on the scenario that the possible elimination or severe castration of Hizbollah will cause a measurable improvement in the country’s governance, its willingness to implement long-overdue reforms and sign an IMF agreement, and ultimately its ability to restructure its external debts.
So how realistic is this?
Here are five potential pathways for Lebanon and Lebanese debt, of which only the first two are positive.
1. Israel achieves continued success against Hizbollah and in effect amputates the organisation so badly that it ceases to dominate Lebanese politics and loses its ability to obstruct necessary reforms. Lebanon proceeds to implement those reforms, signs an IMF agreement and successfully restructures its external debt.
2. Hizbollah recovers from its initial setbacks and fights Israel to a standstill inside Lebanon, similar to what it achieved in 2006. This enhances Hizbollah’s standing within Lebanon and leaves the party stronger than before. Nonetheless, Hizbollah becomes more integrated in the Lebanese body politic and begins to co-operate with the movement to implement reforms, sign an IMF agreement and ultimately restructure the external debt.
3. Same as (2) with Hizbollah stronger even than before the ground offensive. But this leads to no reforms, no IMF agreement, and no restructuring of the external debt.
4. Israel achieves continued success against Hizbollah and ends its dominance of Lebanese politics; but the remaining Lebanese factions turn out to be incapable of national reconciliation and unable to sign an IMF agreement, so no debt restructuring is forthcoming.
5. Israel damages Hizbollah severely, but the organisation remains the most powerful political group within Lebanon and is able to continue impeding reforms, obstructing an IMF agreement and thus stymie any debt restructuring.
Anyone who’s lived in the Middle East will know to discount the optimistic scenarios, and therefore be understandably sceptical that the Lebanese bond rally can be sustained.
A lot of FT Alphaville readers will know this already, but the best explanation for the seemingly bizarre price action in Lebanese bonds can be found in options theory.
The value of an option typically increases — sometimes quite measurably — when the underlying asset experiences rising volatility. That is especially true for heavily “out-of-the-money” options. These are cheap because the likelihood of them coming good before they expire is so fantastically unlikely. But if they do then the pay-offs can be astronomical.
And in most option pricing methodologies greater volatility mechanistically increases their value, because it improves the chances of improbable outcomes.
Assume you’ve bought a one-year call option on Microsoft with a strike of $100 when the spot price is $80 and the stock’s volatility is 20 per cent. Subject to reasonable further assumptions regarding the stock’s dividend yield and the risk-free interest rate, we can calculate that the value of this option, at inception, is slightly higher than $1.
In effect, the option is very cheap because the likelihood that the spot price at expiration will exceed $100 is low, given the current price of $80 and the 20 per cent volatility. In fact, it is approximately 85 per cent probable that the option will expire out-of-the-money, and you’ll lose your premium. In other words, that you’ll suffer a 100 per cent loss. However, if the spot price does rise above $100, the gains can be big. For example, if Microsoft hits $105 you’ll realise a 400 per cent profit.
More relevantly to the Lebanese eurobond situation, we can also calculate that if the spot price does not budge but volatility rises from 20 per cent to 30 per cent, for example, the owner will double their money. If the volatility doubles to 40 per cent then the option quintuples in value.
Now comes the “killer insight”: a deeply distressed equity or debt security is analogous to an out-of-the-money call option in the following two respects at least:
(i) it is very cheap and thus has a (modest) probability of producing returns in the hundreds of percentage points, like the Microsoft call option above,
(ii) it has a high probability of returning negative 100 per cent or something close to it — the expected outcome if Lebanon proves wholly unable to reconcile internally, implement necessary reforms and restructure its external debt.
You’d therefore rightly expect that Lebanese bonds become more valuable when the country becomes more volatile, something that has undoubtedly occurred since the initiation of the Israeli invasion and the assassination of Hizbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.
This might easily explain the price increase from 6c to 9c. And from here, who knows.
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