In the South war, in the North party. Lebanon looks like a meteor between war and revelry on the beaches. Economic crisis and power vacuum continue.

“Sunbathing on the beach despite hearing the rockets is an act of survival in a country where nothing works,” says Batul Ecedin. Just a few carefree hours, a few hours in which she can be forgotten, is all the young Lebanese woman desires. Like many others, Batoul is at the beach of Tire in southern Lebanon to swim and sunbathe in the scorching heat. A few kilometers below is the Israeli border, where an undeclared war has been going on for months. The risk of an escalation is looming. Smoke can often be seen rising into the sky from the beach. There are not a few bathers who are afraid that the destruction they see from here with the naked eye will reach as far as Tire or even the capital Beirut.

Since October 8, shortly after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Hezbollah paramilitary organization in Lebanon has clashed daily with the Israeli army. The Lebanese organization, wanting to support the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, launches daily rockets into northern Israel. It intends to stop firing only when a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. In response, the Israeli armed forces systematically attack Hezbollah positions. To date, more than 400 people have lost their lives, most of them members of the paramilitary organization. It is estimated that more than 80 civilians have been killed in the hostilities, while in attacks from Lebanon about 30 Israelis have lost their lives, not only soldiers, but also civilians.

“Nothing makes sense in this country anymore”

“If I was rational, I wouldn’t have to be sitting in this bar,” says 25-year-old Tamara over a drink in the Mar Mheil neighborhood: “But we live in a country where nothing is rational anymore. Life is too short and I have to enjoy it.”

Unfortunately, war is not the only thing plaguing the Mediterranean country. Lebanon is facing the worst economic crisis in its history, with an unprecedented drop in the value of the local currency. As if all this were not enough, the country is experiencing a power vacuum. It has been searching for a new president for a year now. It is another of the many problems, which seem to have been accepted by most of the population.

Despite the war, tourists come

At Beirut’s airport, there are few signs of a war that could soon engulf the entire country. Every day dozens of planes arrive here from abroad. “In June we had 408,000 arrivals,” says Fadi al-Hassan, the airport’s Director General of Civil Aviation. In 2023, arrivals were at similar levels. The recent tensions have had “no impact on the number of arrivals so far,” he explains. Many of the arrivals are of course not tourists, but Lebanese living abroad.

Germany, on the other hand, is one of several countries that issued a travel advisory for Lebanon, advising its citizens living in the country to leave as soon as possible for security reasons.

At a time when the South is on the brink of general war, tourism is concentrated in northern Lebanon. “Most of my clients came from Beirut or other big cities. “Now nobody comes, and I understand why,” says restaurant owner Gasan Houdruts from Tyre.

“Because of the conflicts, the maritime area is anything but beautiful.” Instead of the coastal areas of Tyre, the Lebanese prefer to vacation in the North. The coastal town of Batrun was a popular tourist destination even before the war in Gaza. Anyone who doesn’t regularly watch the news wouldn’t believe that just 150 kilometers to the south, rockets are being fired every day and entire villages have been destroyed.

Editor: Stefanos Georgakopoulos