Anger in Beirut as security forces attempt eviction of displaced persons

Displaced African migrant workers seek refuge at a warehouse, turned into a shelter by a group of volunteers to house migrant workers who fled Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in the eastern suburbs of Beirut on October 21, 2024. [AFP]

Lebanese security forces faced resistance Monday as they sought to evict displaced families sheltering in an abandoned Beirut building, as scuffles erupted with crowds angered by the move, said an AFP correspondent.

The building in Beirut's Hamra district was largely abandoned before it was recently overtaken by several families, many of them from the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold heavily targeted by Israeli strikes.

The attempted eviction came as Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi vowed "exceptional measures" to ensure the safety of displaced families and the communities hosting them, nearly a month into a deadly Israel-Hezbollah war.

He also vowed to "remove any encroachments on public and private property in Beirut", after the displaced pitched tents on roads and took over vacant homes.

Monday's attempted eviction was "based on a judicial decision that ordered the evacuation of a building in the Hamra area", Lebanon's internal security forces said in a statement.

The squatters were given "an additional 48 hours" to evacuate the premises, after "a large number of people... gathered" to protest the move, said the statement published on social media platform X.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators chanted "shame" in front of the building, cordoned off by security forces, as some overturned rubbish bins and set them on fire.

The eviction order came after the building's owner had filed a lawsuit complaining of encroachment on his private property, said Beirut mayor Abdullah Darwish.

Amal, a woman who had taken up residence in the building after fleeing Beirut's southern suburbs, accused security forces of "bursting in" to clear the premises.

"Whoever closes his door, they break it down," she said.

"When they started bombing the southern suburbs we came here," Amal said. "Now we have no choice but to return to south Beirut. This is psychologically destroying us."

The Israel-Hezbollah war has killed at least 1,470 people in Lebanon and displaced over a million people since September 23, according to Lebanese authorities.

"We have no homes left to return to," lamented 18-year-old Lara, also from south Beirut, who was sheltering in the building with her family.

Nearby, a woman interjected saying, "either we end up in the grave or we go home".