A crowd is gathered in front of a podium where former Minister of Labor Mustafa Bayram spoke, in front of the Serail of Nabatieh, on Sept. 17, 2026. (Credit: Photo provided by our correspondent in the South)
SOUTH LEBANON — "Supporting the South is a national duty." That was the slogan of organizers and protesters from villages in southern Lebanon that remain inaccessible despite the cease-fire, who gathered Thursday for a sit-in outside the Nabatieh Serail.
Several hundred residents of Nabatieh, surrounding towns and villages that remain occupied or are under Israeli fire gathered to "demand the right of owners of homes destroyed or damaged by Israeli attacks to housing and compensation," according to our correspondent in the South.
Former Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram, a Hezbollah MP, spoke at the gathering. He called for accelerating the return of displaced residents and the payment of housing and reconstruction compensation, while urging the state to strengthen the presence of its institutions in affected areas to assess residents’ needs and address them.
On Thursday, in coordination with the municipality of Sour, the Council for the South — which is responsible for assessing damage caused by Israeli attacks ahead of reconstruction — began surveying the damage, our correspondent in the southern Lebanon reported.
Against the backdrop of the economic crisis that has gripped the country since 2019, and with the damage and economic losses resulting from the two wars since 2023 estimated at nearly $27 billion, according to preliminary estimates, Bayram said that “the necessary funds are available to the state.” He accused certain parties of seeking to pressure the “resistance” community by depriving it of its rights, while insisting that this “will not break its will.”
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has repeatedly defended his government’s efforts regarding the situation in the South. On Tuesday, during the first day of a general policy debate in Parliament, he said the government’s objective was not “to manage population displacement,” but to “enable residents to return to their lands” in the South.
Salam said the scale of the destruction “far exceeds the state’s capacity to address it alone with its current resources,” and reiterated the need for “external support and funding.” “We have defined the priorities and are working to restore essential services in the affected areas,” he added.
On Thursday, Salam chaired a meeting to follow up on “priority projects” in the South, attended by, among others, Public Works and Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny, Council for Development and Reconstruction President Mohammad Ali Kabbani, Council for the South President Hashem Haidar and High Relief Committee Secretary-General Bassam Naboulsi.
During the meeting, the prime minister stressed the need to accelerate implementation of the projects, particularly the clearing of areas destroyed during the war and the restoration of essential infrastructure and services.
The latest conflict, which has killed more than 4,000 people, was triggered last March by rocket fire from Hezbollah, which described it as a response to “avenge” the assassination of Khamenei following the war between Iran and the United States. Despite the “cease-fire” announced in Lebanon at the end of June, Israeli bombardments continue daily across the South, accompanied by intensive demolition operations in the more than 600 square kilometers of territory still occupied by Israel.
Additional reporting by our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah.
