Hotels, flats turn away Lebanese displaced over fears they could be Israeli targets

In two weeks of war, Israel has carried out surprise strikes on two hotels, as well as on buildings in densely populated residential neighbourhoods, spreading panic among residents and hotel owners.

"I asked everyone, everywhere about apartments," Fakih told AFP. "They either refused to rent to us or asked for exorbitant prices."

"I ended up having to separate from my family and send them to live with my son in his small room" near his university north of Beirut, "while I live in the hospital" where he works in the southern city of Sidon.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2, after Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack that killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Since then, Israel has been conducting air raids across Lebanon and ground incursions into the border region.

The war has displaced more than 830,000 people, according to government figures.

Only 130,000 of them are staying in official shelters, while others have resorted to renting apartments or hotel rooms, or moving in with relatives and friends.

– 'A mistake into a catastrophe' –

One resident of Beirut's central Hamra neighbourhood told AFP that people in his building refused to host a neighbour's relatives fleeing southern Lebanon, fearing they could be targeted by Israel.

"We feel the pain of the displaced, but a small mistake could turn into a catastrophe," he said, asking not to be identified.

In busy Hamra, Ali Sarhan manages furnished apartments that he now refuses to rent to middle-aged single men, "only to women and the elderly, or to men I already know," he told AFP.

When a family comes to rent, "I ask about their work and where they came from".

During the previous war between Hezbollah and Israel, the latter targeted apartments outside the party's strongholds, spreading fear across the country.

Shortly after the latest war in Lebanon broke out, municipalities across Lebanon began requiring newcomers to obtain security clearances.

In the Mount Lebanon town of Bikfaya, the municipality issued a statement "strictly prohibiting the rental or housing of any person... before informing the municipality and obtaining its prior approval".

In Beirut's northern suburbs, the Dekwaneh municipality issued similar instructions out of fear that a "fifth column" could be hiding among displaced renters, mayor Antoine Chakhtoura told AFP.

"It's better to be cautious and careful because we don't know who might be among the strangers," he said.

At the reception desk of the Lancaster Plaza Hotel in Beirut's Raouche area -- a few blocks from the Ramada Hotel that was targeted days earlier -- guests are greeted with a sign announcing new security measures.

Under this new regime, management has the right to check guests' identities at any time, and visitors are banned.

According to the Israeli army, the strike on the Ramada killed five people, including three commanders in the Revolutionary Guards, while Iran's mission to the United Nations said that four Iranian diplomats were killed in the attack.

On the hotel's facade, the room that was hit is still without windows, its walls blackened, surrounded by rooms that appear occupied, with children looking out from balconies where laundry is hung out to dry.

After the attacks, the syndicate of hotel owners sent out a circular, seen by AFP, instructing hotels to ensure "visitors are not substituted for registered guests" and banning hotel bookings made on behalf of individuals or groups.

– 'Stricter measures' –

Syndicate head Pierre Achkar told AFP that the new situation requires "stricter measures".

Illegal groups "bring in people known to be targeted by Israel and expose Lebanese hotels to bombardment", he said, noting that "some people would book rooms and then swap them with their visitors," making it harder to know who is actually staying there.

The Ramada Hotel, whose lobby is quiet as security personnel rush to ask everyone entering for identification, has been conducting a "security assessment" of guests before agreeing to host them, according to a hotel official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

At the Lancaster Plaza, front desk supervisor Mohammad Hajj says "entry and exit are now only permitted through the main gate... delivery workers are no longer allowed in, and guests can no longer receive visitors".

He added that occupancy had plunged by 50 percent after the Ramada was targeted, saying "many guests were frightened by the unexpected attack and left".