Displaced people sheltering in abandoned Hamra building fear eviction after clash with Lebanese security forces

Uncertainty reigned on Tuesday among the approximately 300 people who have taken shelter in the Hamra Star building in Beirut after they were displaced by Israel’s aggression from their homes elsewhere in Lebanon.

The afternoon before, clashes had broken out next to the building, between Lebanese security forces and some of the displaced residents, as well as protesters in the area, as authorities attempted to forcibly evacuate the residents from the building on Hamra Street.

Many of those residing in Hamra Star were previously living in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh — both areas that have been targeted by heavy Israeli shelling on an almost daily basis since late September.

Though this is not the first time that Lebanese security forces have sought to expel displaced people from various sites across the capital, displaced individuals and protestors who went to the site on Monday to support them told Mada Masr that these clashes were the largest so far, fearing that the scenario could be repeated given the lack of shelters to host them.

An elderly woman who was displaced from the southern town of Shaqra told Mada Masr that she spent several days in public spaces in Beirut before hearing that a building on Hamra Street was open for displaced people. She preferred to speak anonymously.

“And what a building,” she said, “the moment I saw it, I knew it wasn’t fit for humans — no water, no electricity, no sewage. But desperate times make you accept anything. What else do we need these days but a roof to sleep under?"

With a tone of despair, the woman, who shares a room with other women and children due to overcrowding in the building, added, "but now they even want to kick us out from under this roof?"

The building, which is owned by multiple people, had been abandoned and closed for many years, she said, and the displaced residents cleaned and repaired it. "It was in shambles — no electricity, no water, nothing. We installed power and water lines and fixed the sewage system," she said. 

Tia, an activist who came to protest in support of the right of those who are displaced to stay in the building, likewise noted the effort the residents had gone to in order to make the building habitable. They worked over the past days to clean the building, which had been abandoned for years, to make it barely liveable as a temporary shelter amid the war, she said.

The elderly woman noted that one of the owners’ grandchildren had visited them in the early days of their stay and reassured them that they wouldn’t be disturbed until the crisis ended. 

Residents were therefore taken by surprise when they received an eviction notice several days ago from security forces. 

“We heard that one of the building's owners filed a lawsuit to have us thrown out," said the elderly woman.

"There is nowhere for us to go,” she said. “Are we supposed to return to the streets and lie on the ground? What kind of state doesn’t provide a place for those displaced from their homes? All security forces said was 'you have 48 hours.'”

After the notice was issued, youth and student committees called for sit-ins and protests outside the building to oppose the evacuation order. Tia, who was among them, told Mada Masr that "the evacuation decision makes no sense in the middle of the displacement crisis given the inability of the state and its agencies to provide safe alternatives for the displaced."

Security personnel came to the building on Monday to implement the eviction order. “Suddenly, we saw the forces descending on us. What are we? criminals?" the woman remarked while describing the incident.

According to Tia, the displaced tried to avoid clashes with security forces. "No one wants to fight, people came here to escape the war and shelling, not to cause trouble. The protest was against the decision," she said. 

"Women and children were at the gate, while men stayed outside,” Tia said. “It was the security forces who first resorted to violence against the women and girls, and that’s when the clash broke out and escalated."

Pictures shared online of the incident showed men in security uniform restraining people outside the building as well as men in civilian clothing who had been injured and bleeding.

Following the clash, the Lebanese Internal Security Forces issued a statement granting the displaced an additional 48 hours to evacuate the building, before withdrawing from the area.

Residents still have few options, however, with government shelters crowded and lacking resources. Aid from relief committees is meager, said Tia, noting that displaced people also have limited financial resources as many have lost their work and livelihoods.

"And yet, despite these circumstances, the state comes to evict the displaced and protect private property. What about the state's duty to provide shelter for the displaced? Zero," Tia said.

The displacement crisis in Beirut is severe, Tia noted, with many families still sleeping in public across the city without access to the basic necessities of life. “Rather than pushing the 300 displaced people into unsafe, unprepared halls in the Tarik al-Jadidah area of Beirut, the state should be preparing places to relocate those [camping out] in public spaces,” she continued, adding that the “state’s role is to solve the displacement crisis, not make it worse."

With eviction rescheduled for Wednesday, and with nowhere to go, people fear the clashes will start up again. "We’re afraid they’ll kick us out. If we had somewhere else to go, we would’ve left, but there’s nowhere, and we won’t leave. Where am I supposed to go with my wife and kids? There are no houses for rent, no apartments, nothing," Younis, a displaced father of five, told Mada Masr.

Younis had initially been displaced with his family from Nabatieh in southern Lebanon to Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburb. When the shelling on Dahiyeh intensified in recent weeks, however, he and his family were forced to leave the suburb and instead searched through the city’s public spaces. From there, they relocated to Hamra Star. 

“We had no other option. No school, nothing. Where can we go? We’re at war, but it seems some people are living in a different reality,” Younis said.

According to the coordinator of the Lebanese caretaker government’s National Emergency Committee, Nasser Yassin, the government has registered the displacement of nearly 200,000 citizens since the escalation of Israel’s aggression. 

Over 44,000 families are registered in government shelters, mostly in Mount Lebanon and Beirut, yet the real figure is estimated to be much higher, he said. 

In recent days, limited clashes have broken out between security forces and displaced people taking shelter in public spaces or spaces classified as private property after their owners requested the evacuation, such as the Saifi Garden in central Beirut and along the Corniche in Ain Mraisseh.