A displaced family crosses the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been transformed into a reception and accommodation center for displaced people, in Beirut, on March 10, 2026. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP
BEIRUT – The president of the Beirut municipality, Ibrahim Zeidan, denied in a statement on Saturday that he had suggested deporting displaced people from majority-Shiite regions bombarded by Israel by boat, responding to information published the same day by the pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar.
"What is circulating in some media outlets claiming that I proposed transferring the displaced by boat is a distorted, completely false statement, and was only attributed to me for vile political motives. This is merely a deliberately misrepresented excerpt from a discussion among the participants at the meeting mentioned in these erroneous reports, namely Social Development Ministry Haneen Sayed, Beirut governor Marwan Abboud, the director of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) office Carolina Lindholm Billin, and others," Zeidan wrote.
The Beirut mayor added that "The truth is that the meeting was about the lack of European and international support given the scale of the displacement from the South, and the obvious shortfall in funding and aid compared with what Lebanon had received in previous years. During the exchange, some participants mentioned that Europe had previously taken action to manage the Syrian displacement and provided significant financial assistance out of concern about waves of illegal migration to its territories. In this context, an ironic comment about the nature of this international reaction was twisted by some and falsely turned into a proposal from me to 'deport' the displaced," he continued.
"No rational official would consider, even for a single second, expelling people displaced by the war being waged against Lebanon."
Zeidan also rejected other reports circulated by "certain media outlets," such as the withdrawal of municipal guard personnel or the replacement of the company in charge of waste collection at the sports complex, considering them part of systematic misinformation.
