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.



Gaza Mourns Children Killed in Israeli Strike as Death Toll Rises

Zakeya Al-Wasifi, the grandmother of five Palestinian children who took their first polio vaccine in September and were killed in an Israeli strike before taking their second dose, shows the deceased children's clothes at her damaged house, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, October 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Zakeya Al-Wasifi, the grandmother of five Palestinian children who took their first polio vaccine in September and were killed in an Israeli strike before taking their second dose, shows the deceased children's clothes at her damaged house, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, October 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Gaza Mourns Children Killed in Israeli Strike as Death Toll Rises

Zakeya Al-Wasifi, the grandmother of five Palestinian children who took their first polio vaccine in September and were killed in an Israeli strike before taking their second dose, shows the deceased children's clothes at her damaged house, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, October 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Zakeya Al-Wasifi, the grandmother of five Palestinian children who took their first polio vaccine in September and were killed in an Israeli strike before taking their second dose, shows the deceased children's clothes at her damaged house, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, October 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

A Gaza family sat weeping on Saturday over children killed by an Israeli strike as they were getting ready to play soccer, amid an intensified bombardment that Palestinian health authorities said has killed 44 people over the past 24 hours.

The strike was in Mawasi, a southern coastal area where hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter after Israel's military told them to leave other areas it was bombing in its war against Hamas.

"The rocket struck them. There were no wanted or targeted people there and there was nobody else in the street. Just the children who were killed yesterday," said Mohammed Zanoun, a relative of the dead children.

The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday that nearly 70% of fatalities it had verified in Gaza were women and children.

Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva, where the office is based, said it categorically rejected the report, saying it did not accurately reflect realities on the ground.

STRIKES

Strikes overnight and on Saturday morning also killed four Palestinians east of Gaza City including two journalists, four people in a house in Beit Lahiya, and two people in a tent at al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, medics said.

Israel's military did not immediately respond on Saturday to a request for comment on strikes on areas where displaced people were sheltering.

It has previously said Hamas fighters hide among the civilian population and it hits them when it sees them. Hamas denies hiding among civilians. For the past month, Israel's main military focus has been in northern Gaza, the first part of the tiny, crowded territory that its troops overran early in the conflict last year.

A committee of global food security experts warned on Friday that there was a strong likelihood of imminent famine in northern Gaza amid the renewed fighting.

Israel's military said 11 trucks of food, water and medical supplies had been delivered into the north Gaza areas of Jabalia and Beit Hanoun on Saturday and said the famine assessment was based on "partial, biased data".

It said was preparing to open the Kissufim crossing into Gaza to expand aid routes. On-off peace talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have made little progress over months.

On Friday a US official said Washington had asked Qatar to close the Hamas office in Doha after the group rejected a ceasefire proposal.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed the report as "an American attempt to send a message of pressure to the movement through the media".