Lebanon: Bank robbery with toy pistol to treat sister

A woman in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, escaped after robbing a bank of thousands of dollars with the help of a toy gun to treat her sister suffering from cancer.

Sali Hafiz, a woman, streamed live video of her robbery at Bloom Bank’s Beirut branch on Facebook, in which she can be heard yelling at bank employees for money while the bank’s entrances are sealed.

He said in the video: ‘My name is Sali Hafiz. I am here today to collect the deposit of my sister who is dying of cancer in the hospital. I did not come to kill or shoot anyone. I am only asking for my right.’

After robbing the bank, Sali told broadcasters that she had managed to withdraw about $13,000 of the $20,000 her family had deposited.

He further said that his sister’s cancer treatment will cost 50 thousand dollars.

Sali told the media that he used his nephew’s toy pistol for the robbery.

Before security forces arrived, Sali and his suspected accomplice escaped through a broken window at the back of the bank, an AFP correspondent said.

Sali is still at large, according to relatives, while Lebanon’s General Security Agency dismissed rumors that she had fled the country.

Sali, 28, is a social worker and interior designer and is one of five sisters, said her sister Zeina.

She said that she had not been in touch with the family since the robbery and no family member was involved in her planning.

Zeina told AFP she was wanted by the authorities.

After the robbery, Sali became an instant hero on social media as many people in Lebanon are angry about not being able to access their bank deposits.

Pictures and footage of Sali standing on a table inside the bank with a pistol went viral on social media.

One user wrote on Twitter: ‘Thank you, two weeks ago I cried in Bloombank. I needed money for the surgery. I am too weak to hold a pistol and take my own money like you.’

A woman robs a Bloom Bank branch in Beirut on September 14, 2022, in a screen grab from footage from Channel Al-Jadeed (Reuters, Al-Jadeed).

It is the latest in a string of robberies in Lebanon, where public capital has been trapped in banks for nearly three years amid dire economic conditions.

Another man also tried to rob a bank in the city of Elli, northeast of Beirut, on Wednesday, the state-run National News Agency reported. However, the news agency did not say whether they looted any money or not.

Last month, a citizen held hostage for hours at a bank in Beirut who came to withdraw some money from their savings to pay his father’s medical bills.

He was arrested but soon released. Social media users also expressed solidarity with him.

Earlier in January, a citizen in the eastern part of the country took staff and customers hostage at a bank after they were denied access to their deposits.

After the local media, he was given some money and he handed himself over to the police.