Lebanese draft law banning property sales in occupied areas (2026)
Lebanese government bill of September 2026 to bar property sales in areas of southern Lebanon occupied by Israel
| Lebanese draft law banning property sales in occupied areas
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Draft legislation |
| Date | 10 September 2026 (approved by cabinet) |
| Location | Lebanon |
| Participants | Lebanese cabinet; Ministry of Finance; Parliament of Lebanon |
| Cause | Reported offers to buy land in Israeli-occupied southern villages |
The Lebanese draft law banning property sales in occupied areas is a bill approved by Lebanon's cabinet on 10 September 2026, at the request of the finance minister, Yassine Jaber. It would bar the sale of land and buildings in Israeli-occupied towns in southern Lebanon until the occupation ends, and has been sent to parliament.[1][2]
Provisions
LBCI reported that under the bill, owners of land, buildings or shares in the occupied towns could not sell until the occupation of Lebanese territory ends. Any power of attorney, promise of sale or notarised contract made between 8 October 2023 and the law's publication could not be completed or registered without approval from a committee of judges and experts appointed by the justice minister. Its decisions could be appealed once, to the civil Court of Appeals. Contracts made before 8 October 2023 and properties offered by developers and contractors are excluded.[1]
Stated purpose
Jaber told Asharq Al-Awsat that the aim was to prevent sales "to fictitious individuals or companies" and to stop ownership passing "indirectly to undisclosed parties".[2] He told LBCI that the law was meant to preserve the south's identity and demographic make-up, stop the war being used to buy land cheaply and, "most importantly", prevent land passing to Israelis using real estate companies as a front. LBCI reported that some Lebanese had been contacted by people abroad interested in buying land in areas such as Naqoura.[1] MP Abdel Rahman al-Bizri pointed to "repeated visits and tours of Lebanese territory by extremist groups from within Israeli society" and recalled "what happened historically in Palestine before the Nakba".[2]
Al-Akhbar's account
On 3 October 2026 the Beirut daily Al-Akhbar reported that, after the occupation had settled in, lawyers in the United States had offered owners of large plots on the coast from Mansouri and Bayada to Naqoura more than market value. It wrote that these contacts led Jaber to stop land registries completing sales and to send the bill to parliament. In the same report it said information was circulating that the banker Antoun Sehnaoui was working with Israelis to "restore Christian ownership" of large southern estates, according to people working with him, and raised the possible sale of Solidere shares to foreign-registered companies. The paper also published a 1934 French intelligence report on brokers buying coastal land between Tyre and Sidon.[3] No completed sale to Israeli interests has been published.
Context
The bill followed calls by Israeli ministers and settler groups such as Uri Tzafon and Nachala for settlement in southern Lebanon. See Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (2024–present).
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Maroun Nassif, A new law could reshape property sales in southern Lebanon’s occupied towns LBCI, 26 September 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Soubhi Amhaz, Lebanon Moves to Protect Land Ownership in Occupied South Asharq Al-Awsat, 12 September 2026, accessed 22 October 2026 (Saudi-owned).
- ↑ Al-Akhbar, لماذا مُنعت البيوع العقارية على الحدود؟ وثيقة أمنية فرنسية تشرح تاريخ التغلغل اليهودي (Why were property sales on the border banned? A French security document explains the history of Jewish penetration) Al-Akhbar, 3 October 2026, accessed 22 October 2026 (in Arabic; Hezbollah-aligned).