Lebanon’s government has approved a draft law banning property sales in Israeli-occupied parts of the south, seeking to prevent wartime displacement and destruction from being exploited to transfer land through intermediaries, front companies, or fictitious buyers. The cabinet approved on Thursday, at the Finance Ministry’s request, “a ban on real estate sales in areas occupied by the Israeli army.” Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government’s decision to ban land sales in occupied southern areas was intended to protect property rights and prevent any attempt to transfer ownership to parties linked to the occupation. He said the preventive measure would protect the land from sales conducted through indirect or deceptive means. “The government was keen to take a clear measure in light of the concerns raised about this issue, preventing any sales that could effectively lead to land ownership being transferred indirectly to undisclosed parties,” Jaber said. The aim, he added, was to prevent sales “to fictitious individuals or companies,” referring to the potential use of names or corporate entities as fronts for indirect purchases. Jaber linked the decision to efforts to preserve and protect land ownership in the south, saying it was part of “strengthening the resilience of southern communities, preserving and protecting the land in every respect, and safeguarding coexistence.” The draft law comes as southern areas face widespread destruction, while residents remain displaced and some are unable to return to their towns. The situation has raised concerns extending beyond physical damage to the future of property ownership and residents’ ability to return. Lebanese MP Abdel Rahman al-Bizri said the protection of property ownership was part of an effort to prevent the destruction and displacement from becoming permanent. “It is clear that the Israeli occupier is pursuing a scorched-earth policy and working to eliminate every possibility for people and communities to return to the occupied territories in southern Lebanon,” al-Bizri told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The systematic destruction it is carrying out — whether of homes, infrastructure, crops, schools, clinics, shelters or hospitals — targets every element people need to live and build a functioning community.” “This indicates a deliberate plan to ensure that these lands remain unfit for the residents’ return, even if the Israeli occupier withdraws from them,” he added, pointing to “repeated visits and tours of Lebanese territory by extremist groups from within Israeli society.” “This recalls similar scenes in the Syrian Golan Heights and the West Bank,” al-Bizri said. “Despite the Israeli government’s denials, it raises concerns about possible parallel activity by the Israeli authorities and extremist movements.” Al-Bizri said the Lebanese government had prohibited land sales as a pre-emptive and preventive measure, barring the sale of property in occupied areas to Lebanese and non-Lebanese buyers alike. The measure was intended to prevent such transactions from becoming “an entry point for a broader process that could later be exploited,” he said, recalling “what happened historically in Palestine before the Nakba.” “Sovereignty does not mean only the deployment of the Lebanese army and security forces. It also means the return of the state, with all its services, to those areas — from municipalities and schools to healthcare and social protection,” al-Bizri said, adding that a substantial part of the responsibility rested with the government itself. “Preventing land sales is part of the confrontation and part of our insistence that this land is Lebanese and that we want to keep it Lebanese,” he said. “This must go hand in hand with the state’s return and presence across all Lebanese regions.” Ayoub Hmayed, an MP from the Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government’s decision was a “precautionary measure” aimed at protecting the land and closing any loophole that Israel could exploit. The measure “reinforces Lebanese sovereignty over Lebanese territory,” he said. Hmayed said the decision’s importance stemmed, “as a matter of principle,” from the need to prevent sales or transfers of ownership that could be exploited under occupation. On the demographic implications, Hmayed said the problem extended beyond land sales to the conditions created by the war and occupation, including residents’ displacement and the inability of some to return to their towns. If the situation persisted, he warned, it would “certainly produce a different reality” on the ground. He said the ban provided additional protection to landowners even when their homes had been destroyed and they were unable to return. “Preventing land sales protects these people, just as it reinforces Lebanese sovereignty over Lebanese territory,” Hmayed said.
