Nabatieh slowly stirs back to life after Israel’s brutal war on south Lebanon

Hundreds of businesses in the city were destroyed by Israeli attacks

The Lebanese city of Nabatieh is beginning to bustle again after months of devastating attacks by the Israeli military, even as the sound of distant explosions serves as a reminder of the continuing presence of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

The main city of the Nabatieh governorate is one of the major commercial centres in the south, ringed by about 40 villages and with roads leading into Lebanon’s mountains and the Mediterranean coast.

The ancient souq in the city centre is now barely recognisable, such is the level of destruction in the area. In October, as Israel stepped up attacks on targets it claimed to be linked to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, an air strike destroyed the municipal headquarters as a meeting to discuss aid distribution was being convened, killing 16 people including the mayor.

A jewellery shop owned by Mohammad Jaber in Nabatieh's souq was busy with customers after escaping damage in Israel's attacks on the city. Mohamad Zanaty for The National

About 85 per cent of Nabatieh’s buildings – from homes to offices and banks – were destroyed, according to Mohammad Jaber, a representative of the local traders’ association, as well as about 300 businesses in city and the adjoining district of Kfarjoz.

“The partial destruction is massive and much larger than that,” he said, speaking to The National outside his jewellery shop in the souq, which appeared to have escaped unscathed and was busy with customers.

“We experienced a devastating, catastrophic, barbaric war during which many areas were destroyed, but Nabatieh was the most severely hit.”

One of the businesses in the souq that did not escape the bombing is the Falafel Al Arnaout restaurant, which is littered with debris, covered in dust and still without power supply.

The owner Ali Arnaout said the recipes he used were passed down from his grandfather, who arrived from Palestine a century ago, to his father and then on to him.

“Look, this says 'from Palestine to Nabatieh'," Mr Arnaout said, holding a charred sign at the back of the room. “Magazines and newspapers used to write about us, but everything is [now] destroyed," he said of the restaurant, which is more than 100 years old.

“In 2006, I had a store near Al Qard Al Hassan and it was destroyed,” he said, referring to the previous war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Branches of Al Qard Al Hassan, a financial institution linked to Hezbollah, were targeted repeatedly by Israel in the latest war, which is currently paused by an extremely tenuous ceasefire.

Mr Arnaout said he was looking for a new place to open but he also wants to restore the ruined Falafel Al Arnaout premises.

Rubble and debris surround the souq in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, after sustained Israeli bombing of the city. Mohamad Zanaty for The National

Excavators began clearing the city of rubble after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to the truce in late November. But the fate of the ceasefire is in the balance, as each side accuses the other of breaching conditions of the agreement. Israel has carried on with its extensive demolition of border villages and continues to carry out sporadic air strikes. Hezbollah was supposed to withdraw to north of the Litani river, about 30km from the Israel border, and Israeli troops were required to pull out of southern Lebanon within a 60-day period ending on January 26.

Despite the devastation and hundreds of deaths caused by Israel’s attacks, signs that Nabatieh was an important support base of Hezbollah remain.The group’s yellow flags can be seen flapping in the January wind, while pictures of its long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel in late September, and his expected successor Hashem Safieddine, killed the following month, are plastered across the city.

Municipality official Hassan Jaber deals with the public from a makeshift office in Nabatieh souk after Israel bombed the municipal building. Mohamad Zanaty for The National

“Nabatieh is recovering and hopefully it will get better,” said municipality official Hassan Jaber, who now operates from a room in the souq that overlooks a square strewn with rubble.

He said about 90 per cent of shops outside the souq have reopened, while the popular weekly Monday market in the souq resumed this month and was busy this week. The exact scale of damage in the souq, which was almost completely destroyed by Israel, is yet to assessed.

“All the rubble is being removed and there will be reconstruction," Mr Jaber said. "It will certainly take time, not just a couple days – rather a year or two – but hopefully it will further recover."