Residents of Beirut, Dahieh Plan to Evacuate Homes if War with Israel Erupts

A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)
A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)
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Residents of Beirut, Dahieh Plan to Evacuate Homes if War with Israel Erupts

A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)
A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)

Israel’s assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahieh has prompted the residents of the area to seek safe haven in regions in case of the eruption of a broader war with Israel.

They have sought to rent apartments in regions such as Bhamdoun, Baabda and Aley - in a form of “temporary displacement” - where they can wait for the latest tensions to blow over.

Some people have been lucky enough to find apartments that they had previously used as summer lodging, while others are looking for furnished apartments as temporary refuge.

Tensions soured last week in wake of Shukr’s assassination and the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate, raising fears that Israel could respond to any attack by targeting Beirut and Hezbollah’s stronghold of Dahieh.

Reina, 51, a resident of Ain al-Rummaneh near Dahieh, said she has taken the decision to move to Bhamdoun throughout August in anticipation of any escalation.

“I won’t venture by going down to Beirut. Maybe Israel would strike roads and bridges like it did in 2006. We can do without more tensions,” she said.

Israel and Hezbollah waged a 33-day war in July 2006 during which the later targeted Dahieh and the South – another Hezbollah stronghold. It also destroyed roads and bridges throughout Lebanon, as well as attacked Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, putting it out of service.

On Wednesday, Nour, 26, a resident of Dahieh, began searching for a furnished apartment to rent for her and her family in the Baabda and Aley regions that are close to Beirut suburbs.

She said she has searched tirelessly online for the right apartment. “Some large apartments are available, but the conditions for renting them are ridiculous,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Rent has tripled with apartments going for 1,200 dollars a month,” she added. She said that she understood that rent would skyrocket with the high demand, but owners are making impossible conditions, such as asking for an advance payment worth six months' rent, amid a stifling economic crisis in Lebanon.

“We don’t have that kind of money. If the war were to stop within a month or two, then we would have lost thousands of dollars,” she went on to say.

Other options at the people’s disposal are offers from friends to stay over in regions that they believe are safe from Israel should a full-scale war erupt.

Another option is staying in hotels or vacation homes in areas deemed safe, said Nada, a resident of the South and mother of one.

“No one will say no to you if you have the money. You will pay for your safety,” she added.

She revealed that she spoke to the owner of a vacation rental in the Batroun region north of Beirut where she had previously stayed. He promised her that he would give her priority to rent the place should the need arise.

For people who have the financial means, seeking temporary safe haven is not a challenge. But for those whose earnings barely help them get by day by day, leaving home is not an option.

“We don’t want to be humiliated. We will not seek refuge in schools,” a resident of Dahieh told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Our home protects us. Any displacement will humiliate us; we are praying to God to spare us from this,” he added.



Trump's Week of Tariff Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura  REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT
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Trump's Week of Tariff Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura  REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT

A week of turbulence unleashed by US President Donald Trump's tariffs showed little sign of easing on Friday, with financial markets again whipsawing and foreign leaders grappling with how to respond to a dismantling of the world trade order.

A brief reprieve for battered stocks seen after Trump decided to pause duties for dozens of countries for 90 days quickly dissipated, as attention returned to his escalating trade war with China that has fueled global recession fears.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to assuage sceptics by telling a cabinet meeting on Thursday that more than 75 countries wanted to start trade negotiations. Trump himself expressed hope of a deal with China, the world's No.2 economy.

But the uncertainty in the meantime extended some of the most volatile trading since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The S&P 500 index ended 3.5% lower on Thursday and is now down about 15% from its all-time peak in February.

Asian indices mostly followed Wall Street lower on Friday with Japan's Nikkei down 4%, though markets in Taiwan and Hong Kong turned positive and European stocks were set to open slightly firmer.

A sell-off in government bonds - which caught Trump's attention before Wednesday's pause - picked up pace on Friday with US long-term borrowing costs set for their biggest weekly increase since 1982. Gold, a safe haven for investors in times of crisis, scaled a record high.

"Recession risk is much, much higher now than it was a couple weeks ago," said Adam Hetts, global head of multi-asset at investment fund Janus Henderson.

Bessent on Thursday shrugged off the renewed market turmoil and said striking deals with other countries would bring certainty.

The US and Vietnam have agreed to begin formal trade talks, the White House said. The Southeast Asian manufacturing hub is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory in the hope of avoiding tariffs, Reuters exclusively reported on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, meanwhile, has set up a trade task force that hopes to visit Washington next week. Taiwan said it also expects to be included in the first batch of trading partners to hold talks with Washington.

CHINA DEAL?

As Trump suddenly paused his 'reciprocal' tariffs on other countries hours after they came into effect earlier this week, he ratcheted up duties on Chinese imports as punishment for Beijing's initial move to retaliate.

Trump has now imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods of 145% since taking office, a White House official said.

Chinese officials have been canvassing other trading partners about how to deal with the US tariffs, most recently talking to counterparts in Spain, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Trump told reporters at the White House he thought the United States could make a deal with China, but he reiterated his argument that Beijing had "really taken advantage" of the US for a long time.

"I'm sure that we'll be able to get along very well," Trump said, adding that he respected Chinese President Xi Jinping. "In a true sense he's been a friend of mine for a long period of time, and I think that we'll end up working out something that's very good for both countries."

China, which has rejected what it called threats and blackmail from Washington, restricted imports of Hollywood films, targeting one of the most high-profile American exports.

The US tariff pause also does not apply to duties paid by Canada and Mexico, whose goods are still subject to 25% fentanyl-related tariffs unless they comply with the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement's rules of origin.

With trade hostilities persisting among the top three US trade partners, Goldman Sachs estimates the probability of a recession at 45%.

Even with the rollback, the overall average import duty rate imposed by the US is the highest in more than a century, according to Yale University researchers.

The pause also did little to soothe business leaders' worries about the fallout from Trump's trade war and its chaotic implementation: soaring costs, falling orders and snarled supply chains.

One reprieve came, however, when the European Union said on Thursday it would pause its first counter-tariffs.

The EU had been due to launch counter-tariffs on about 21 billion euros ($23 billion) of US imports next Tuesday in response to Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium. It is still assessing how to respond to US car tariffs and the broader 10% levies that remain in place.

Finance ministers from the 27-country bloc will brainstorm on Friday how to use the pause to get a trade deal with Washington and how to coordinate their efforts to handle tariffs if they do not.

European authorities estimate the impact of the US tariffs its economy would total 0.5% to 1.0% of GDP. Given the EU economy as a whole is forecast to grow 0.9% this year, according to the European Central Bank, the US tariffs could tip the EU into recession.