The Afqa cave waterfall, Aug. 13, 2025. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/L’Orient-Le Jour)
A land dispute on the banks of the Nahr Ibrahim in Afqa, ongoing for several years, has now taken a political turn. A video published Aug. 29 on social media by the account "Wen eldawle" ("Where is the state?") and later broadcast by local channel MTV shows three brothers from the Zeaiter family, at least one of whom is armed, confronting people and forcing them to turn back as they approached the riverbank in the Jbeil district."One of the most beautiful places in Lebanon is being seized by the Zeaiter family thanks to their influence, imposing a fait accompli with weapons and intimidation," "Weneldawleh" denounced. However, Atef Zeaiter, the mokhtar [elected official] of Afqa and a distant relative of the alleged offenders, recalls that a former president of the village municipal council, Abbas...
A land dispute on the banks of the Nahr Ibrahim in Afqa, ongoing for several years, has now taken a political turn. A video published Aug. 29 on social media by the account "Wen eldawle" ("Where is the state?") and later broadcast by local channel MTV shows three brothers from the Zeaiter family, at least one of whom is armed, confronting people and forcing them to turn back as they approached the riverbank in the Jbeil district."One of the most beautiful places in Lebanon is being seized by the Zeaiter family thanks to their influence, imposing a fait accompli with weapons and intimidation," "Weneldawleh" denounced. However, Atef Zeaiter, the mokhtar [elected official] of Afqa and a distant relative of the alleged offenders, recalls that a former president of the village municipal council, Abbas...
