It’s been a month since a ceasefire deal to halt the devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect, and residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs have trickled back to their homes.
Dahiyeh – the Arabic word for suburb and the name given to the area south of the Lebanese capital – was hammered by weeks of Israeli strikes. Streets which once never slept in the densely populated suburbs have been left in ruins, after buildings were reduced to rubble within seconds during the offensive.
Cleanup operations begun straight after the war ended on 27 November, as Dahiyeh’s displaced residents rushed back to check on what was left of their homes, businesses and other places, saddened by the destruction but keen to rebuild.
However, Hezbollah – and the Lebanese state – now face the arduous challenge of reconstruction, in a country already suffering from years of an unprecedented financial crisis.
Unlike the aftermath of the 2006 war where states were quick to assist Lebanon in rebuilding, a difficult reality looms this time. Hezbollah has come out of the war hurt and undoubtedly diminished and assistance is not as forthcoming as it was after the last major conflict.
Buildings at imminent risk of collapse
The intense bombardment has left many buildings in Dahiyeh structurally weakened and facing imminent collapse, endangering civilians in an area that is trying to bounce back to life despite uncertainty, especially with the approach of winter that usually brings with it heavy winds and rain across Lebanon’s coastal areas.
Haret Hreik, in the heart of Beirut’s southern suburbs, was one of the areas worst hit by Israeli attacks.
Its deputy mayor, Ahmad Hatoum, told °®Âþµº that 102 buildings in his municipal area alone have been destroyed, with 50 more needing to be torn down, adding that more than 260 buildings have been partially damaged.
Across the whole of Dahiyeh, he says around 417 buildings have been destroyed, with over 1,500 buildings partially damaged. He did not mention how many more buildings need to be demolished outside Haret Hreik.
These figures are subject to change as the municipality continues to make assessments, he says.
"Regarding the buildings at risk of collapse and those which will be demolished, as well as getting rid of the debris, this is all partly tied to a tender that will take place on 3 January 2025 by the Union of Municipalities for the [Beirut] Southern Suburbs," Hatoum told TNA, estimating that the process of clearing up the wreckage could take up to three or four months once it begins.
He said the municipality has taken precautions, cordoning off streets around hazardous areas.
The deputy mayor says the 265 buildings currently documented as partially damaged in Haret Hreik will be assessed by the municipality, so "every building that is considered to be a risk to residents or its vicinity – whether in Haret Hreik or anywhere else in the Dahiyeh – we will not let anybody use it or come near it."
But to Hatoum, these dangerous do not only lie in the buildings barely standing and that may fall to the ground at any moment. He says dangers will persist as long as Israel continues with it crimes against civilian populations.
"As long as there is Israel … and as long as there is a Zionist regime attacking civilians, unbothered by international laws, dangers will exist and they will continue," he tells TNA.
The cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel erupted over the war on Gaza in October last year, but Israel escalated it into a full-blown war in September, killing thousands of people in Lebanon, including civilians and combatants.
A US-brokered deal ended the violence, but Israel continues to violate the agreement every day, striking what it claims are Hezbollah elements in southern Lebanon and vowing to keep the group weakened.
"But our people are used to this, our people are living in a state of constant political and economic instability, and 2024 is not their first experience. But we hope it is the last," Hatoum says, commending what he called the bravery shown against Israel by the Dahiyeh’s residents – and Hezbollah’s supporters in general.
Hezbollah's financial aid: Slow progress?
The war triggered the country’s worst ever displacement crisis, with over a million people forced to leave southern Lebanon, the Dahiyeh, and parts of the Baalbek-Hermel and Beqaa governorates in the east – predominantly Shia regions where Hezbollah enjoys widespread support.
For many, the luxury of returning home still seems far fetched, and they’ve continued living in shelters or are renting properties elsewhere.
"We estimate that more than 50 percent of residents whose homes were lightly damaged have returned. But there is no specific data as this is constantly changing," Hatoum tells TNA. His estimate is based on residents who have reached out to the municipality about damages.
He says that people will only return to a building after it’s been checked by the municipality and marked safe.
"We notify people of the risks, but if they choose not to adhere [to our warnings] then that is a different subject."
Scenes of destruction in the Dahiyeh are reminiscent of the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. It is an area that has always paid a heavy price in Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, especially because many of Hezbollah’s interests are located there.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior officials from the group were assassinated in Haret Hreik and parts of the Dahiyeh.
A month on, there are worries that the reconstruction process could take much longer than it did post-2006.
There have been reports lately of growing frustration with Hezbollah among the Dahiyeh’s residents due to allegedly late compensation payments, and the very slow progress to begin reconstruction.
It is not yet clear how long this will take, and costs have varied, with no signs of donor states willing to send any funds to Lebanon if certain conditions on serious political and economic reforms are not met.
Some Lebanese from affected areas have blamed the government for not compensating them – critics however say this burden should fall solely on Hezbollah as it alone took the decision to go to war, and not the Lebanese state.
Earlier in December, Hezbollah’s interim leader Naim Qassem announced how much compensation residents waiting for their houses to be rebuilt would receive. A Hezbollah-affiliated private construction company, Waad, is expected to oversee reconstruction efforts.
In Dahiyeh, residents would receive $6,000 to help with rent and $8,000 to refurbish their homes. Those who have received funds from anywhere else will have the amount taken away from the compensation, according to another private Hezbollah-linked construction firm, Jihad al-Binaa.
Unverified reports claim some people have only received a small portion of the said compensation money, complaining that even the payments were slow.
An environmental battle
Questions have also been raised as to where exactly Dahiyeh’s war rubble will be transported after it's cleared from neighbourhoods, and whether keeping the large piles of debris in the streets could pose any health or environmental hazards to residents.
"The presence of rubble as it is now [on the streets] is not dangerous. But when the rubble is cleared, this is where we say caution must be taken," lawmaker and environmentalist Najat Saliba told TNA.
She warned about the large amounts of dust that will come from removing the rubble, especially as it may likely contain harmful toxins, and the respiratory problems this will cause for people living nearby. This is why a careful field survey must be conducted by relevant authorities, and not done arbitrarily, said Saliba.
But she says what’s more important than all of this is where the rubble will go.
Reports earlier this month said the Lebanese Cabinet, in which Hezbollah has ministers, was considering dumping rubble from the Dahiyeh in the sea for land reclamation, but these plans have not been confirmed.
TNA tried contacting the Lebanese Minister of Public Works for comment.
"This is [our] main battle, because our officials are acting carelessly, as if the sea is theirs for them to dump anything in it whenever they want. They have wars then dump in the sea instead of recycling. They’re not willing to spend any time and effort to avoid destroying our environment, and to help us get rid of this waste in a healthy and environmentally friendly way," Saliba told TNA.