Fear of renewed war prompts residents in the southern suburb of Beirut to change their places of residence, or rent homes in other areas, despite some of them owning intact homes that have not suffered any damage. Move decisions are no longer exclusively linked to destruction or eviction warnings. Rather, fears of the outbreak of a new confrontation have become an essential factor in choosing a place to live, even planning marriage and spending the years of retirement.
Testimonies collected by Asharq Al-Awsat reveal changes in the lives of families who chose to move away from the suburb in search of safety, while others continue to reside there while maintaining an alternative place to which they can resort when necessary. Among those who bear additional rent despite owning a home, and those who rent a spacious apartment to receive members of two families if displacement is renewed, security concerns take precedence over material and social considerations.
The matrimonial home accommodates two families
Nadia Houry's choice of her marital home was not a traditional decision. The newly married young woman, who had lived in the southern suburb before her marriage, decided to move to the Bchamoun area, putting the possibility of renewed war at the forefront of her calculations.
Houry told Asharq Al-Awsat: “When I decided to get married, I did not only think about the house in which I would live with my husband, but also about the place where my family and my husband’s family could take refuge if a new war broke out. “So I chose to move to Bchamoun, and I made sure that the building was safe and that the apartment was spacious enough to receive two families.”
She added: “I preferred to bear the additional cost rather than find my family or my husband’s family forced to flee without having a place to receive them.” “I wanted to be prepared for any emergency.”
The shock of the bombing forces them to leave
As for Lana Shuaib, a resident of the Al-Marija area in the southern suburb, she rented a small studio in Achrafieh, after she became unsure about returning to her home, while her father and mother left for their village in the Bekaa.
Shuaib told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The situation is worrying, and security concerns are not the only thing that drives us to move away from the suburb, but also the living conditions left behind by the bombing.”
She added: “The area is still suffering due to the amount of devastation, dust, and water problems... All of these factors make me look for another place.”
But the most influential factor in her decision remains the fear of renewed raids, especially after the experience she had during one of the night strikes. She explains that “the lack of guarantees preventing the renewal of the war makes returning to the suburb a difficult option for her.”
Shuaib reveals that she is thinking about leaving the area permanently, saying: “When this situation ends and things return to normal, we will sell the house and look for another place,” stressing the difficulty of a person leaving a house in which he spent his life’s misery.
Retire free from fear... albeit at an additional cost
Khair al-Din, who preferred not to reveal the rest of his name, did not wait for his house in the St. Therese area in the suburb to suffer any damage until he decided to leave. He left his proper home and moved with his wife to Khalde in Mount Lebanon, where he rented a house for $600 a month, out of a desire to spend their retirement years away from fear and the possibility of repeated displacement.
Khairuddin told Asharq Al-Awsat: “My house was not damaged, and we could have stayed in it, but we were tired of fear and the possibility of having to flee again. We have reached an age where we want to rest and live quietly, away from bombing and worry about the return of war.”
He explains that his decision to move to Khaldeh was also linked to his and his wife’s desire to remain close to their children who reside in the area and its surroundings.
He adds: “We wanted to be close to our children and spend our retirement in a place where we feel safe.” We no longer want to live on our nerves every now and then, or think about where we will go if the war is renewed.”
Khairuddin acknowledges that renting a house for $600 a month, despite owning a habitable home, constitutes an additional financial burden on him in retirement, but he justifies his decision by saying: “Peace of mind has become more important to us. We want to live the rest of our lives away from fear and escape.”
A summer chalet turns into an emergency shelter
Unlike those who left the suburb, Abu Ali, the octogenarian man, still resides in his home there, but he took a precautionary measure by renting a chalet in the Faraya area on an annual contract, in anticipation of the possibility of the outbreak of a new war.
Abu Ali told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I still live in the suburb, and I do not want to leave my home, but I rented a chalet in Faraya all year long so that I would have a place to go if the war resumed.” I usually use it in the summer, but I preferred to keep it in case of any emergency.”
He explains that his advanced age made him more keen to secure a place to which he could move immediately if the security situation deteriorated, instead of having to search for shelter in difficult moments.
Abu Ali confirms that renting the chalet does not mean making a final decision to leave the suburb, but rather it is a precautionary measure imposed by fears of a repeat of the war, and I do not want to find myself forced to flee without having a place to turn to.”
Within the framework of the campaign launched by the Iraqi government to combat corruption, judicial procedures are continuing against those involved in financial corruption operations. In the latest developments in the campaign, Dhia Jaafar, judge of the Second Karkh Investigation Court, announced the recovery of an amount of 21 billion and 424 million Iraqi dinars (about 14.1 million dollars) from two violating companies accused of fraud.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Jaafar explained that the violations were committed with the aim of benefiting from dollar exchange rate differences in transferring money outside the country in fraudulent ways.
This announcement came days after prison sentences were issued against two deputies, for a period of 6 years for one and 5 years for the other, with them required to return sums of money in a corruption case related to oil refinery contracts.
Last Thursday, the Anti-Corruption Court ruled that MP Muthanna Al-Samarrai, head of the Al-Azm bloc, was sentenced to 6 years in prison, and obligated him to return an amount of 30 billion dinars, which the court said he had benefited from as a result of his mediation in the contracts of the North and South refineries.
The court also ruled a 5-year aggravated imprisonment against MP Ziad al-Janabi, and obliged him to return the amount of 4 billion dinars he benefited from in the northern refinery contracts.
In a related case, an 8-year prison sentence was issued against Hussein Talib, the former general manager of the Petroleum Products Distribution Company, on the grounds of his interference in awarding contracts with the aim of achieving personal gain.
In late June, the Iraqi government began an arrest campaign on charges related to administrative corruption, including dozens of former and current representatives, deputy ministers, and general directors, as part of a campaign called “The Dawn Commander.”
Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi launched the campaign after assuming office last May, with the aim of prosecuting those involved in corruption cases. However, its pace later declined under political pressure, according to local reports.
Musa Faraj, former head of the Federal Integrity Commission, said that Al-Zaidi’s campaign “represents progress compared to previous stages, when government decisions contributed to protecting the corrupt, or obstructing the work of the regulatory and judicial bodies,” he said.
He added that the campaign “achieved results in files related to the issue of corruption in refineries, based on statements made by Al-Jumaili before judicial authorities, as well as actions in cases of illegal gain.”
But he believed that the campaign was still limited in scope, noting that “key files, including currency corruption, real estate, oil smuggling, and fake employees, were not covered by the measures to the same extent.”
Faraj said, in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, that one of the shortcomings is also “the lack of accountability of the political blocs to which officials accused of corruption belong, despite the influence of those blocs and their benefit from some of those involved,” according to his estimate.
He added, "The continuation of the campaign and its effectiveness depend on expanding the scope of investigations and pursuing broader files, in addition to preventing political blocs from replacing their candidates with those who have been convicted."
A government source reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is preparing to visit Kuwait and Bahrain this week, as part of his series of visits to neighboring countries, after he had visited Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Iran.
Based on political calculations and what is being circulated in Iraqi political corridors, Al-Zaidi’s visits to Saudi Arabia and Jordan were aimed at building confidence with the leadership of the two countries, especially after the series of attacks that the two countries were subjected to by armed militias in Iraq.
In this context, Al-Zaidi provided guarantees that such attacks would not be repeated in the future, especially since the arms control procedures are moving forward, despite some factions’ rejection of them, or their attempts to delay their implementation beyond the scheduled dates, which it is hoped will end by June 2027.
As for his visit to Turkey, it was aimed at discussing new files, most notably the passage of Iraqi oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, and the “development road project,” in addition to old files related to water.
Old files and new horizons
While political circles await the upcoming visits to Kuwait and Bahrain, the most prominent information circulating indicates that the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Kuwait will be at the forefront of the discussions, while the minority issue will be one of the topics of Al-Zaidi’s visit to Bahrain. According to the sources.
In this context, an informed source said, in a press statement, that “Al-Zaidi’s visit to Bahrain and Kuwait will address important topics, including addressing the thorny files between Iraq and Kuwait, related to the demarcation of the maritime borders between the two countries, the “Mubarak Port” file and its impact on “Al-Faw Port,” in addition to the security file and the importance of achieving stability in the region.”
The source added, "The Prime Minister's visit to Bahrain will focus on calm to ensure stable security in the region." He pointed out that "the visit that Al-Zaidi will conduct has discussed its topics with the leaders of the (coordination framework) earlier."
During the recent period, Al-Zaidi had conducted a series of foreign visits, including Turkey on July 28, 2026, where he met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then Saudi Arabia on October 14, where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Jordan on the 26th of the same month, where he met King Abdullah II.
He also visited Syria on October 28, 2026, and met with the Syrian President, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in Damascus, and the two sides discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance political, economic, and security cooperation.
Detailed visits
While his visit to Syria seemed pivotal; Because it is the first from an Iraqi prime minister after the political change that Syria witnessed following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the arrival of a new political regime headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the political and sectarian circumstances that followed, the visit succeeded, according to observers’ estimates, in dispelling fears between the two parties, in addition to discussing common issues between the two countries, most notably border security, in light of the presence of ISIS cells on both sides of the border, in addition to discussing the possibility of restarting the “Iraqi oil pipeline” through the Syrian port of Baniyas.
The only visit that seemed to be related beyond the framework of bilateral relations was the one made by Al-Zaidi to Iran, which raised a lot of speculation in Iraqi circles, including the possibility of conveying firm American messages to Tehran, especially since the visit came after Al-Zaidi’s visit to the United States last July.
Settlement equation
In this context, Haider Al-Mulla, a former member of the Iraqi parliament and leader of the “Al-Azm” coalition, said in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, “The region is experiencing a state of conflict, and Iraq has no influence in this international equation, and is not part of the settlement equation. Rather, it is affected by what is happening.”
Al-Mulla added, “The shuttle visits conducted by the Prime Minister represent positive steps that fall within the country’s correct path, so that Iraq is not counted among the axis policy.” He explained that "Iraq intends to open the dialogue compass with neighboring Arab and non-Arab countries, which is a positive step that distances us from the ongoing alignments in the region."
For his part, Professor of Political Science at Al-Mustansiriya University, Issam Al-Faili, told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The Prime Minister is keen to establish balanced relations with all countries of the region, based on the importance of Iraq’s geopolitical location, and the human capabilities and resources it possesses that enable it to be open to the world.”
Al-Faili added, “Al-Zaidi wants to establish a strategic relationship with the Arab countries mainly through economic interests, and he realizes the importance of Iraq to the Gulf countries, which will contribute in the future to its return to the Gulf system.”
He explained that “Iraq must contribute to the stability of the region in the post-war phase, especially since the policy of alliances and axes in the region has become clearer than before, and that Al-Zaidi intends to distance Iraq from the policy of axes and alignments.”
Al-Faili concluded by saying, “Al-Zaidi succeeded in limiting the role of Iran’s arms in the region, after attempts to liberate Iraq from Iranian pressure, which ultimately represents a message to the Gulf states that the Iraqi decision will be an influential decision, contributing to strengthening relations with all Arab countries.”
