Beirut Bishop Warns Against Selling Ravaged Historic Houses

A Lebanese couple inspect the damage to their house in an area overlooking the destroyed Beirut Port on Aug. 5, in the aftermath of a pair of massive explosions in the Lebanese capital. Joseph Eid/AFP
A Lebanese couple inspect the damage to their house in an area overlooking the destroyed Beirut Port on Aug. 5, in the aftermath of a pair of massive explosions in the Lebanese capital. Joseph Eid/AFP
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Beirut Bishop Warns Against Selling Ravaged Historic Houses

A Lebanese couple inspect the damage to their house in an area overlooking the destroyed Beirut Port on Aug. 5, in the aftermath of a pair of massive explosions in the Lebanese capital. Joseph Eid/AFP
A Lebanese couple inspect the damage to their house in an area overlooking the destroyed Beirut Port on Aug. 5, in the aftermath of a pair of massive explosions in the Lebanese capital. Joseph Eid/AFP

Metropolitan bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch for the Archdiocese of Beirut, Elias Audi, warned on Sunday residents living in disaster-stricken areas affected by the August 4 explosion, from falling victims to some real estate agents asking to buy their properties.

“I call on residents to withstand in their homes,” the bishop said Sunday.

Some 300,000 people were displaced when the explosion damaged or destroyed their homes, killing more than 178 people and injuring 6,000 more. The blast demolished entire neighborhoods of Lebanon’s capital in seconds.

Audi’s warnings came in light of recent reports saying mysterious buyers were offering to buy broken homes in the traditional neighborhoods of Gemmayzeh, Mar Mikhael, and Ashrafieh for a compelling sum of money.

The complaints drove Caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni to issue a decree last week for preventing the sale of any historic building without getting permission from the ministry of culture. The Finance Ministry said in a statement that the move aims to prevent any “exploitation.”

Also, Caretaker Culture Minister Abbas Murtada said no damaged houses could be sold or registered without being fully renovated and without getting the approval of the ministry.

Audi said: “It is necessary to warn residents not to fall victim to real estate agents and financiers swooping on people’s properties and trying to benefit from their woes by offering money in return of their houses.”

He called on residents of Ashrafieh and nearby neighborhoods not to fall into this trap and to preserve their homes.

“We will cooperate all together to emerge from this crisis,” he said.

For his part, Lebanese Deputy Hagop Terzian called on caretaker Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm to issue a decree preventing notaries from registering any transactions related to the selling of houses damaged by the Beirut port explosion.



Israel Intercepts Missile from Yemen, Military Says

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)
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Israel Intercepts Missile from Yemen, Military Says

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had intercepted a projectile launched from Yemen that crossed into Israeli territory.

Sirens had earlier sounded in several areas of Israel.

The Iran-backed Houthi group has repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what it has described as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The firing of the projectile came after Israel resumed airstrikes against targets in Gaza that killed more than 400 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, in an onslaught that ended weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.