As more than 100,000 people have been displaced from south Lebanon since hostilities along border areas broke out on October 8, rents across Beirut and Mount Lebanon – but generally all over the country – have recently skyrocketed from an average of 300 dollars to as high as 1,400 per month, a 367% increase, with real estate agents also demanding months of rent in advance, The Public Source reported.
Alongside appeals for solidarity for the populations affected by the war – the Palestinians in Gaza, first and foremost, but also the Lebanese of the south and the Beqaa valley, Facebook walls are crowded with dozens of posts that read: “Furnished apartment for rent in Al-Kfour area – ground floor with garden – 12 amp solar energy – gas stove – air conditioners – very quiet location – monthly rent of 500 dollars – insurance of 200 dollars – office fees – small family wanted;” or, in the southern district of Nabatieh, directly hit by Israeli airstrikes: “Furnished apartment for rent in Kfar Jouz, 5 rooms for rent 700 dollars;” “Independent house for rent in Nabatieh, 600 dollars, unfurnished;” “Apartment for rent in Deir Al-Zahrani, ground floor, 3 bedrooms, rent 500 dollars, 3 months in advance;” “Furnished apartment for rent in Upper Nabatieh, fourth-last floor, area of 170 square meters, American system, water well 24/24 – solar energy 10 amps – contract for one year – monthly rent 500 dollars.”
And the reality in the Beirut governorate and its mountain regions – until now unaffected by direct Israeli attacks, with the exception of the capital’s southern suburbs – is even harsher, with rents reaching 1,500 dollars per month.
At the opposite extreme of the solidarity economy – the harsh logic of profit, where the displaced families from the border areas, while cities are emptied of foreigners or citizens with the possibility to leave the country, instead of being welcomed free-of-charge in vacant and relatively safe apartments, are burdened with exorbitant rents: as long as the owners earn something from them. Surely, the fear of Hezbollah commanders hiding among the displaced – the risk of transforming Beirut and Mount Lebanon into a new south, torn by targeted Israeli strikes – is also pushing many Lebanese not to rent their emptier and emptier apartments to the displaced civilians, aggravating the sectarian tensions latent beneath Lebanon’s social fabric. But if safety, in the context of war, becomes a relative concept – profit surely does not.