Five-time former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss, who served during some of the most tumultuous years of his country’s modern history, passed away on Sunday at the age of 94, according to a statement by the current premier.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed his condolences, describing Hoss as the “conscience of Lebanon.” Mikati remarked that Hoss’s death comes at a critical time when Lebanon is in dire need of his steadfast moral leadership. This comment underscored the current tension, as fears loom that Lebanon could be drawn into a full-scale conflict with Israel. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been engaging in daily exchanges of fire with Israel following the outbreak of war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, resulting in mass displacements on both sides of the border.
Mikati praised Hoss’s legacy, calling him a “prominent economist and a role model for his expertise, ethics, and knowledge.” He emphasized that Hoss always prioritized the nation’s supreme interests and the well-being of its citizens above all other considerations.
Hoss, often hailed as a technocrat, was widely respected as a rare statesman in a country beset by political and sectarian strife. His tenure as prime minister spanned four terms during Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990, with his final term extending from 1998 to 2000.
In a particularly challenging chapter of Lebanon’s history, Hoss found himself heading one of two rival governments. After President Amin Gemayel’s term ended in 1988 without an elected successor, Lebanon was split between two governments: one led by Michel Aoun in the Christian east Beirut, and the other by Hoss in the Muslim west Beirut.
Following the country’s political conventions, the prime ministership in Lebanon is traditionally held by a Sunni Muslim, the presidency by a Maronite Christian, and the speakership of the Parliament by a Shiite Muslim.
