The Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Ahmed Al-Hajjar, responded to what was raised regarding the delay in the request to transfer funds allocated to cover school scholarships for retired military personnel, confirming that the file is no longer with the Ministry of Interior, and that it was referred to the Ministry of Finance since August 12.
Al-Hajjar’s clarification came after a retired soldier said, during a media statement in the city of Tire today, that the request to transfer funds to cover the school scholarship for retirees is still with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities.
The Office of the Minister of the Interior said in a statement, “This is absolutely not true,” explaining that the request was received by the Ministry from the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces, before the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities referred it to the Ministry of Finance on August 12, 2026 to complete the procedures related to it.
Al-Hajjar stressed that the rights of military personnel, including retirees, receive his constant attention and follow-up, stressing that the Ministry is doing everything that falls within its powers to ensure that they receive their entitlements.
The clarification comes amid increasing sensitivity within retired military circles regarding the files of salaries, social benefits, and school scholarships, after the past weeks witnessed the circulation of conflicting information about the dates for completing some transactions and the entity to which disbursement procedures stop.
In late July, retired military circles witnessed the circulation of multiple information regarding school aid and pensions, while the Veterans Association confirmed that it was following up on the files with the official authorities, and called for relying on information issued by official channels to prevent confusion.
The Ministry of Finance had previously announced on July 30 that it had transferred to the Bank of Lebanon the amounts due as school allowance for retired officers and military personnel for the academic year 2025-2026, indicating the possibility of withdrawing them from approved banks as of August 3.
The file returned to the forefront on August 13, when the Ministry of Finance, in turn, denied information that spoke of its abstention from disbursing school aid allocations to military personnel and retirees from the security forces. It said that the process of disbursing the grants had begun about a month ago, and that the files it had received had been completed, noting that the latest of them included the files of retirees of the Internal Security Forces and the General Directorate of Administration in the Ministry of Defense.
This sequence indicates the multiplicity of files and transactions related to school applications, as applications for appropriations usually pass through the relevant security department, then the guardian ministry, all the way to the Ministry of Finance, before completing the transfer and disbursement procedures, which sometimes explains the emergence of disparate information regarding the stage reached by each file.
The file of school aid for military children also sparked controversy in June, against the backdrop of fears of delayed dues and its impact on school tuition, before information was announced about resolving the problem and reaching an understanding that would allow the completion of financial and administrative procedures.
Social benefits for serving and retired military personnel gain double importance in light of the significant decline that has affected the actual value of salaries and pensions over the past years, which has made school, health, and social assistance an essential part of this group’s incomes and their ability to cope with the burdens of living.
Recent years have also witnessed repeated movements by retired military personnel to demand the improvement of pensions and the correction of benefits, while the government seeks to address these demands within the available financial capabilities and through increases and scattered aid, instead of reaching a comprehensive treatment of the salary chain so far.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed in June that it gives priority to securing the salaries of workers in the public sector, military personnel, and security agencies, in addition to managing transactions related to the needs of military and security institutions, despite the pressures facing public finances.
Al-Hajjar’s statement comes, in this context, to resolve the controversy regarding the specific location of the transaction, as the Ministry of Interior confirms that it has completed the required part of it and sent the request to transfer the appropriations to the Ministry of Finance on August 12, and therefore the file, according to its official version, is no longer pending with it.
The school scholarship file remains one of a group of financial files closely monitored by retired military personnel, amid demands that transactions be completed within clear deadlines and that the relevant departments announce their course periodically, in order to avoid the exchange of responsibilities or the spread of contradictory information about rights directly related to the living situation of thousands of families.
