“We heard very loud explosions. I suddenly found myself pulling the children out of their beds to escape with them!”
When the first airstrike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, Batoul rushed to the room of her five-year-old twins. Moments later, she found herself in the street with them, walking on foot without knowing what fate awaited them, while her husband was outside working as a taxi driver, she told Daraj.

Because of the severe traffic congestion at the time, she and her two children rode on the back of a motorcycle with a passerby until they reached Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, where she met her husband. She told Daraj: “We decided to spend two nights in Martyrs’ Square until shelters opened or we managed to rent a small apartment.”

From there began the ordeal of searching for a place to rent. Batoul says that prices had skyrocketed, in addition to the intense scrutiny some landlords impose before agreeing to rent, claiming it is a precautionary measure necessary to protect the building’s residents.
Their first destination was the city of Aley, where she had taken refuge with her family during the 66-day war in 2024. At the time, she had managed to rent an apartment of about 100 square meters for $500. Batoul stresses that the amount was not small then, but when she called the owner of the same apartment this time, he asked for $1,500.

After desperate attempts to find housing, Batoul and her family eventually settled in a school designated to shelter displaced families, waiting for the war to end so they could return to their home.
Tariq Ismail’s situation was not very different. He was forced to flee his hometown of Shaqra in southern Lebanon following heavy bombardment and began his own search for a rental apartment.
After a long struggle, Ismail says he found an apartment that could shelter him, but the landlord asked him to pay three months’ rent in advance. The request surprised him, as he noted that “during the war that broke out about a year and a half ago, this condition was not required for renting.”

In addition, Ismail confirmed that “this payment also includes the commission of the real estate office that acted as an intermediary between me and the apartment owner.”

Municipalities Between Paralysis and Strict Measures
Nearly 800,000 displaced people have been registered in shelter centers across Lebanon since the beginning of the Israeli bombardment on March 2, 2026, up to the date of publication of this report, according to the Disaster Management Unit at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

It should be noted that this number, which continues to rise daily, does not include displaced people sleeping on public sidewalks and roads.

Following the expansion of Israeli airstrikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs and additional towns in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, many residents of these areas found themselves without shelter. While some registered in official shelter centers, others faced the challenge of finding housing amid soaring rents that drain their savings and exploit their suffering.

A quick look at apartment sale and rental groups on Facebook shows that the listed prices are unreasonable. Rent for apartments in areas relatively far from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has exceeded $1,500, an amount that before the war would have been enough to rent an apartment in some of Beirut’s more upscale neighborhoods.

Advance Payments of 3 to 6 Months

As displacement continues to rise daily, some municipalities have taken decisions considered strict in regulating the reception of displaced people, while others have found themselves unable to control the situation.

For example, in the town of Bchamoun, which hosts a large number of displaced families, municipal council member Shadi Massoud told Daraj: “We have encountered difficulties dealing with apartment owners who rent their properties to displaced people, especially in the absence of any formal rental contracts.”

Bchamoun is divided into two areas: the first is known as “Bchamoun al-Dayaa,” and the second as “Bchamoun al-Madaris,” where schools have become extremely crowded as they are used as shelters for displaced families. Massoud confirmed to Daraj that “the municipality has no additional information about the displaced, where they are staying, or even their exact numbers.”

Meanwhile, other municipalities have issued strict statements and decisions as a basic condition for receiving displaced people, whether in shelters or in rented apartments.

During a quick visit within the jurisdiction of the Choueifat municipality, we observed municipal police stationed at school gates, following the prior registration of displaced families. Municipalities were compelled to take such measures out of fear of random Israeli assassinations, and due to the panic these incidents have caused among residents.

Some municipalities limited their actions to issuing circulars requiring prior notification of any rental or hosting of individuals, while dedicating hotlines for reporting, as was the case in the municipalities of Kfardebian, Annaya, Kfardebian, Faraya, Zouk Mosbeh, Hrajel, and Furn El Chebbak.

Others went further, urging residents to cooperate with municipal councils and local mukhtars to report any unusual gatherings or incidents that might raise suspicion, “in the interest of public safety.”
Among these municipalities is Jounieh, which stated in a circular that it is implementing the Lebanese government’s decision banning any security or military activity by Hezbollah, considering it illegal.

Some municipalities have also adopted additional precautionary measures, such as closing roads at night, installing and operating surveillance cameras on main streets, and forming emergency committees to monitor residents’ conditions and ensure their safety, as was the case in the municipality of Houmal.

At the same time, several municipalities warned of legal action against violators. These measures include issuing official violation reports and imposing heavy fines, and could extend to administrative actions such as sealing rented properties with red wax when necessary, according to a circular issued by the Dekwaneh municipality.