BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s five-time former Prime Minister Salim Hoss, who served during one of the most tumultuous years in his country’s modern history, died Sunday at the age of 94, the current prime minister said.
Administrator Prime Minister Najib Mikati described Hoss, who was also a former government minister and member of parliament, as the “conscience of Lebanon” in a statement announcing his death. He added that Hoss “passed away at the most difficult and delicate stage when Lebanon needs its conscience.”
Mikati was referring to fears that Lebanon could be dragged into an outright war with Israel. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after the beginning of the war in Gazawhich was caused by the Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel. Israel and Hezbollah Since then, fire has exchanged almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee on both sides of the border.
Hoss “was a leading economist and a role model for his expertise, ethics and knowledge,” Mikati said. “He placed the best interests of the country and the interests of citizens above all considerations.”
Hoss was often described as a technocrat and was widely respected as a rare statesman in a country marked by political and sectarian divisions.
He served four terms as prime minister during the country’s 15-year civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990. His last term was from 1998 to 2000.
At one point, he chaired one of two warring governments. After President Amin Gemayel’s term ended in 1988 without a successor being elected, Lebanon was ruled by two governments, one led by Michel Naim Aoun in Christian East Beirut and another by Hoss in Muslim West Beirut.
By convention, Lebanon’s prime minister is always a Sunni Muslim, the president a Maronite Christian, and the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim.