By Yasmine Obeid | Staff Writer
Nestled in the heart of a city in Southern Lebanon is a beautiful market dating back centuries to the Mamluk era. Nabatieh’s traditional market had been a staple in not just the city, but the entire region, representing an economic and social hub. The area was renowned for its architecture, atmosphere, and diversity of products; ranging from street food to handmade crafts and clothes.
As delightful as the marketplace sounds, it is no longer available as it was targeted and destroyed by the Israeli bombardment back in October. The market’s destruction is only one of the many devastations of the war in Lebanon. As part of Israel’s onslaught on Lebanon, many historical sites in the country were actively targeted, in an attempt to erase the country’s rich history.
This isn’t the first time there’s been a war between Lebanon and Israel. Previously, there was one in 2006, during which nearly 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon over the span of 33 days. The most recent war started in October 2023, when Israel launched its war on Lebanon, focusing specifically on the villages close to the borders with Palestine. These series of aggressions escalated into a destructive war on all of Lebanon, with specific targeting of South Lebanon, Bekaa valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The Israeli military targeted civilians’ homes, workplaces, heritage landmarks, resistance and army sites, municipalities, and many other sites. The use of white phosphorus munitions, a substance banned by international law, on the land, is an attempt of ecocide. Additionally, entire villages were rigged with explosives and destroyed to prevent citizens from returning. To the affected people, these ruined structures were not merely physical remnants, they represented a part of their identity and dignity.
One of these sites is that of Saint George’s Catholic church in the village of Dardghaya. The church dates to the 19th century, and along with it, the parish’s offices and local priest’s residence were destroyed. The church held communal value in the village as faith is precious to the locals. Following the ceasefire in late November, the locals had to celebrate
Christmas without a church. However, despite the absence of one, a Christmas tree was still added on top of the ruins to show their faith’s perseverance.
The reconstruction process is facing many obstacles, including political, security related, and economic ones. First and foremost, Lebanon is still living under war and occupation. Despite the internationally recognized ceasefire that began on November 27, 2024, Israel continues to violate it daily, leaving more devastation in its path. Secondly, reconstruction is not a simple task; one cannot just look at reference pictures and start rebuilding. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the bankruptcy the country is facing. There is no government funding to help civilians rebuild their homes, let alone restore communal landmarks and sites. The World Bank estimates that the reconstruction efforts following the war will cost Lebanon 11 billion USD – and to even begin to secure a fraction of these funds poses a great challenge.
To better understand the situation, I interviewed Dr. Mona Fawaz to gain more insights. Dr. Fawaz is a professor and researcher of urban planning at the American University of Beirut. She’s the head of Beirut Urban Lab, a research centre at the university. Her work focuses on making cities more participatory, while taking into consideration the perspective of low-income residents.
Dr. Fawaz explained the contradictory nature of modern building laws in Lebanon, where the building of the traditional Lebanese homes isn’t possible anymore. These old homes that were often structured around courtyards, privacy, and cross-ventilation, were built before the law was ever implemented. These old buildings were not designed with the geometrical models present in modern building laws. If one of these homes were to be rebuilt in the same way, it wouldn’t be permitted and would be considered illegal. However, these exact notions of traditional buildings are what need to be preserved, leading to the need for a legal framework that aims to protect them.
Another technical issue would be that of the materials needed to reconstruct on such a large scale. However, Dr. Fawaz proposed that reconstruction should begin with the rubble. She claimed that the priority for people in the area is to remove the rubble and debris to accelerate reconstruction, often overlooking the fact that this material can actually be recycled and reused, reducing the need for quarries and minimizing environmental harm. Implementing this approach, however, requires genuine political will.
However, as demotivating as all of this may seem, reconstruction is still essential. When done correctly, it brings forward a sense of unity and healing amongst the people. In short, it’s what brings us together. To elaborate more on Dr. Fawaz’s idea, we can look at the example of Salima, a village in Mount Lebanon. After the Lebanese civil war ended in 1990, reconstruction efforts began with many returnees who had formerly been displaced starting to demolish their damaged historical houses to either get better compensation from the Central Fund of the Displaced (CFD), or to build new concrete houses. This sparked concern among architects and conservationists regarding the potential loss of Salima’s “traditional” character. To preserve the village’s heritage, there was a combination of efforts from planners, NGOs, and, eventually, the local community and the municipality.
The eventual embrace of heritage preservation ultimately contributed to the community’s sense of identity, belonging, and potential for future economic activities.
However delightful the example proves to be, it’s also important to note the disproportional neglect the entirety of Southern Lebanon faced after the civil war. As the country boasted about the end of the civil war, Lebanon’s South would still be occupied by Israeli forces until liberation in 2000. The Lebanese government disproportionately focused on rebuilding Beirut, and in many cases, changed its social and cultural fabric. This serves as a reminder that reconstruction should not be exclusive. When reconstruction plans are led by the elite, it almost always fails to be efficient for every community, as an agenda is usually in order. This can be seen with Solidère’s reconstruction of downtown Beirut that left a once vibrant city hub into a wealthy men’s paradise.
Yet while we reflect on flawed reconstruction models, we must not lose sight of the broader context: Lebanon remains under siege. Some areas in the South are still occupied by Israeli forces, in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement.
Hopefully, one day, all our land will be liberated – and only then will we be able to begin truly healing as a nation. Reconstruction is not simply about gathering materials and building houses; it involves considering the communal aspects of everything involved – people, land, and nature – and carefully assessing the challenges in order to respond as closely as possible to the community’s needs in the most sustainable way.
Let us not keep repeating the mistakes of the past and start working towards a united future.
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Image from the below link https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-catholic-church-war-israel-hezbollah-christmas-592b5cb067ecd1aea5276a4b6071190b
References
Beirut Urban Lab. “Not Collateral Damage but a Deliberate Act of Cultural Erasure.” BeirutUrbanLab, beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/2015. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
Siddiqui, Usaid, and Farah Najjar. “Israel Bombs Lebanon Updates: Death Toll Rises to 492, over 1,500 Wounded.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 23 Sept. 2024, www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/23/israel-hezbollah-conflict-live-new-air-strikes-target-lebanon.
Staff, The New Arab. “Israeli Strikes Destroy Lebanon’s Historic Nabatieh Market.” The New Arab, The New Arab, www.newarab.com/news/israeli-strikes-destroy-lebanons-historic-nabatieh-market. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
“Lebanon’s Recovery and Reconstruction Needs Estimated at US$11 Billion.” World Bank, World Bank Group, 13 Mar. 2025, www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/03/07/lebanon-s-recovery-and-reconstruction-needs-estimated-at-us-11-billion.
Moussa, Bassam Atef. “HERITAGE RECLAIMED: HERITAGE CONSERVATION PROJECTS IN POST-WAR SALIMA.”
Null. “Israel Bombs Catholic Church in Lebanon and Attacks Un Blue Helmets .” ZENIT, 14 Oct. 2024, zenit.org/2024/10/11/israel-bombs-catholic-church-in-lebanon-and-attacks-un-blue-helmets/.