Property Sharks Circle Ravaged Beirut Homes

Workers remove the rubble beneath a partially-destroyed traditional Lebanese building in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood of the capital Beirut, in the aftermath of the devastating port blast, on August 26, 2020. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
Workers remove the rubble beneath a partially-destroyed traditional Lebanese building in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood of the capital Beirut, in the aftermath of the devastating port blast, on August 26, 2020. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
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Property Sharks Circle Ravaged Beirut Homes

Workers remove the rubble beneath a partially-destroyed traditional Lebanese building in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood of the capital Beirut, in the aftermath of the devastating port blast, on August 26, 2020. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
Workers remove the rubble beneath a partially-destroyed traditional Lebanese building in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood of the capital Beirut, in the aftermath of the devastating port blast, on August 26, 2020. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)

Ever since a monster blast ravaged the arches and high ceiling of his family home in Lebanon's capital, Bassam Bassila says a real estate developer has been hounding him to sell.

"The owner of a tower block nearby is trying to pressure me into selling him my home so he can raze it to the ground" and "build a tall tower" instead, the 68-year-old said in Beirut's Monot neighborhood.

A massive explosion at the Beirut port on August 4 that many blame on official negligence killed more than 180 people, wounded thousands and laid waste to some of the capital's most picturesque streets.

With survivors still picking through the rubble, property sharks are moving in to take advantage of distraught homeowners, sparking outrage over yet another disaster in the making, this time targeting the country's heritage.

Standing inside his living room turned balcony after the wall separating them was blown off, Bassila said the developer had first approached him some time before the blast, offering to buy his apartment after acquiring the ground floor of the same building.

"Eventually you will leave," the developer threatened at the time.

And now he is back, ramping up pressure on Bassila to sell the home he inherited from his grandparents by refusing to prop up the ceiling of the flat below -- meaning Bassila's apartment could collapse.

A former photographer now eking out a living as a taxi driver, Bassila says he cannot afford to restore his family home without financial aid. But he is also determined not to give it up.

"I was born in this house and my father was before me... I can't live anywhere else."

Of 576 heritage buildings surveyed in the wake of the explosion, including 331 in the port's immediate vicinity, the culture ministry says 86 were severely damaged.

Of those, 44 risk complete collapse, while a further 41 could partially fall down.

In the days after the explosion, Bishara Ghulam, the mayor of the Rmeil district near the port, said he received an unexpected visitor among those flocking to his office to report damage to their homes.

"A man turned up who said he was a real estate broker. He said he wanted to buy houses damaged in the blast, and would pay whatever the owners wanted," Ghulam said.

"I told him we weren't selling."

In the capital, banners have appeared reading "Beirut is not for sale".

Naji Raji, the founder of the Save Beirut Heritage initiative, said: "We've heard from people who have received offers from investors linked to certain politicians."

These developers were bent on profit and coveted central Beirut real estate as it was a "prime touristic area" but would likely change its appearance with no regard for heritage, he said.

In the devastated Gemmayzeh neighborhood, architect Rita Saade surveyed the damage sustained by the home that once belonged to her great-grandparents.

Between the mint green walls of a room held up by arched pillars, she pointed to where the floor had partially caved in. Wooden slats from broken window shutters and shattered drinking glasses lay in a pile nearby.

"This is heritage and it needs to be restored," said the 23-year-old Saade. But "we can't afford to restore it on our own".

Audrey Azoulay, the head of the UN's culture and education body UNESCO, Thursday said the agency hoped to raise "considerable" funding to help with reconstruction.



Israeli Airstrikes Leave Massive Trail of Destruction across Lebanon

A man stands next to destroyed buildings after returning to the village of Qana, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A man stands next to destroyed buildings after returning to the village of Qana, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Israeli Airstrikes Leave Massive Trail of Destruction across Lebanon

A man stands next to destroyed buildings after returning to the village of Qana, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A man stands next to destroyed buildings after returning to the village of Qana, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

For more than 60 days, Lebanese have watched stunned as Israeli strikes smashed into buildings, raising giant explosions and palls of smoke in the heart of the capital and other cities.

Now, after a ceasefire was reached this week between Israel and the Hezbollah, Lebanese are returning to their homes and viewing the damage.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, an area known as Dahiyeh, entire blocks in some areas are reduced to fields of shattered concrete where high-rise buildings once stood. Associated Press video caught the moment when a screeching rocket smashed into an apartment in Beirut last month, sending out a plume of fire and sparks.

In the southern city of Tyre, a towering bank of black and white smoke rose from the heart of downtown like a storm front and drifted over the Mediterranean Sea after missiles hit. In the southern village of Flawiyeh, a car was left flipped onto its hood amid a grove of trees from the force of a strike.

Israel launched its intensified campaign of bombardment in Lebanon in late September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and stop its barrages into northern Israel after months of more limited cross-border exchanges between the two sides. Those exchanges started when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas after its attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli strikes were heaviest in cities, towns and villages around southern Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has the strongest presence. But for the first time in years, central Beirut was also regularly shaken by explosions.

More than 1.2 million Lebanese fled their homes during more than a year of fighting – as did tens of thousands of Israelis on their side of the border.