BBCLying amid rubble and charred property three stories high in south Beirut is a twisted and cracked metal sign. “Spare parts. Jeep Cherokee,” it said.
It was the only indication that the ground floor of this destroyed building was occupied by a busy auto parts dealership – one of many such businesses destroyed in the intense bombing of Israel into Dahieh, a southern suburb of the capital largely controlled by Hezbollah.
“We are very confident that we will not be affected because of the nature of the people here – normal people, residents, business owners,” Imad Abdelhak said.
Abdelhak’s garage, next door, survived the worst of the airstrike, but he is waiting to see if the entire structure will have to be demolished as a result of the impact.
Across Lebanon, business owners are reeling after a tense conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that saw Israeli bombs rain down on the country’s residential, commercial and industrial areas, destroying shops and businesses. goods, warehouses and warehouses.
A ceasefire brokered by the US and France, which has largely held, halted the war last week, but for many of the country’s business owners and workers, the pain is just beginning.
“I lost $20,000 and my only source of income,” said Ibrahim Mortada, another auto parts dealer in Dahieh, whose building was hit by the bomb. “I don’t know how we can survive,” he said.
Like Abdelhak, Mortada was waiting for engineers to assess the building, but it was clear to anyone standing below that the structure was unsafe. The top seven floors were destroyed by a direct attack. Huge slabs of concrete and loose rubble hang precariously above Mortada’s head as he tries to clean up what’s left of his facility.
“My business has been open here for 23 years,” he said despondently. “Now we are counting on God to help us.”
Business owners of Dahieh and beyond are also counting on Hezbollah, Lebanon’s powerful militant and political group, which said it will begin this week to assess damage to homes and businesses. businesses as well as giving people cash to pay rent, buy new furniture, and start rebuilding.
In the southern city of Nabatieh on Wednesday, where the Ottoman-era bazaar and surrounding businesses were completely destroyed, residents were still waiting for Hezbollah assessors to arrive.
“No one has contacted us – no one from the government, no one from any group,” said Niran Ali, a 56-year-old woman whose Zen Baby Fashion store has lost almost all of its merchandise. ”.
Scanning the rubble, Ali saw a pair of pink sweatpants, covered in soot, hanging from a steel beam protruding from the ashes. “These are mine,” she said, running her fingers along the black fabric. “They’re probably the only thing left in my business.”
Like others in Nabatieh, Ali had heard that Hezbollah would start by assessing the homes (the group had pledged $5,000 per household to help pay rent and $8,000 to replace furniture). ) and then turned to business, where the losses were much higher. .
Jalal Nasser, who owned a large complex that included a cafe, restaurant and library, returned to the city on the first day of the ceasefire to find the complex reduced to a pile of burning husks. black after a major air strike on the road. He estimates he lost up to $250,000.
He set up a small table and chairs at the edge of the building, overlooking the main street, and smoked shisha. “To give people hope,” he said.
As for where the money will come from to rebuild, “that’s a big question,” he said with a shrug. “But we are waiting for Hezbollah. I’m sure they will.”
The World Bank estimates that the war has caused at least $8.5 billion in damage to the Lebanese economy. That would be a huge sum for any similar country, but for Lebanon it comes on the heels of the 2019 financial crisis and the devastating port explosion the following year.
After the previous war with Israel, in 2006, money poured in from Iran and from the Gulf states to rebuild Lebanon. This time, it’s unclear whether that faucet was on or not.
“There is still no allocation for reconstruction,” Nasser Yasin, the environment minister and head of the government’s crisis management department, told the BBC on Wednesday.
“We have some good signs, some commitments from friends of Lebanon,” he said. “But we estimate we will need billions of dollars this time. The level of destruction is probably 6 to 10 times higher than in 2006.”
Israel said it only acted against Hezbollah in its attacks on Nabatieh and not against the Lebanese people. Yasin accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of “herbicides” for widespread destruction of the city.
During a visit to Nabatieh on Wednesday afternoon, Imran Riza, the United Nations deputy special coordinator for Lebanon, told the BBC that the scale of what needs to be done is “huge”.
“The last two and a half months in particular have been devastating,” he said. “It was a very long road back.”
The historic market in Nabatieh dates back about 500 years. It has been repeatedly attacked by Israel over the decades since 1978. Unlike previous attacks, this time it was completely destroyed.
“This is the worst for Nabatieh, the worst war we have ever seen,” said Yusuf Mouzzain, owner of a clothing store in the market. In his store, a few remaining clothes were hung on rails, covered in soot. He estimates he suffered about $80,000 worth of damage.
In 2006, Hezbollah provided large sums of money to affected business owners. This time, he didn’t know what they would get, or from whom. “But we lost everything,” he said. “So someone has to give us something.”
Additional reporting by Joanna Mazjob. Joel Gunter’s photo.
