return

From Dossier Narrative

“Life has rules”, Abu Hasan

The second part of the narratives of the residents of the Beirut pine forest during the 2026 war.

From Dossier Narrative

A loquat from Abba on the sidewalk of the Beirut Pine Forest

The first part of the narratives of the residents of the Beirut pine forest during the 2026 war.

Study

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: 

Between Housing Vulnerabilities and the Limits of “Voluntary” Return

This report examines the housing vulnerabilities of Syrian refugees in Lebanon between September 2024 and April 2026. It shows how housing vulnerabilities shape the production of “voluntary return” under constrained conditions, where the deteriorating conditions in Syria intersect with a push environment, restrictive policies, and forced evictions in Lebanon. The report concludes that the absence of a rights-based housing and asylum framework sustains instability.

Dossier

What Beirut’s pine forest concealed during the 2026 war: Diaries of displacement and longing

A series of narratives of the residents of the Beirut pine forest during the 2026 war.

Report

Municipalities at War: When Local Authorities Decide the Legitimacy of Housing

This report documents 68 municipal circulars and measures issued during Lebanon’s March – April 2026 displacement crisis, examining how local authorities expanded their role from emergency response to surveillance, control, and restrictions on housing and mobility. It also analyzes post-ceasefire municipal initiatives aimed at curbing housing exploitation and supporting return. The report calls for a rights-based approach that clearly defines municipal powers within a comprehensive national housing policy.

Policy Watch

When Southern Municipalities step into the State’s absence: A reading in Rent- control measures across southern villages of return

Between June 18 and 27, 2026, fifteen municipalities and two municipal unions across Nabatieh and South Lebanon capped rents to protect families returning to villages emptied by displacement during the Israeli war, echoing a similar 2023 circular from the Nabatieh Governorate.
This piece traces how local authorities are stretching what limited tools they have to rein in a rental market marked by flagrant exploitation, amid a total absence of state-level response and no national housing policy for the areas of return.

Research-Based Article

Cartographies of Attack: Documenting a Continuing  Israeli War on Lebanon

Mapping, beyond its function as territorial representation, can operate as a form of testimony that renders visible the spatial and temporal patterns of violence often obscured in fragmented accounts. This article uses mapping as a method of testimony based on approximately three years of monitoring Israeli attacks on Lebanon. It reads patterns of bombardment, displacement, environmental destruction, and attacks on civilian infrastructure to understand how violence operates spatially through control, exclusion, and territorial transformation.

Legal Memo

What Are My Rights During and After Evictions from  Buildings at Risk of Collapse?

In the wake of Tripoli’s building collapse crisis, this legal memo serves to inform residents of the rights guaranteed to them under Lebanese and international law at every stage of eviction and beyond, from prior notice and dignified relocation to guaranteed return, and calls on them to demand these protections both on an individual and collective level.

Research-Based Article

2024–2026: Israeli Bombardment of Tyre: Where and What?

Extracted from a wider research conducted by Public Works Studio, this article analyzes the Israeli aggression against Tyre City between October 2023 and April 2026, framing it as a systematic “urbicide” executed through the issuance of evacuation orders, the destruction of dense residential-economic clusters, and the deliberate dismantling of social ties.

Statement

Securing the Right to Housing and Return: An Open Letter to Officials on Tripoli’s Building Collapse Crisis

As Tripoli’s building collapse crisis deepens. This letter calls on public officials to ensure that the government’s Emergency Plan measures protect residents from long-term displacement through dignified alternative housing and guaranteed return.

Research-Based Article

Kfarkela, Southern Lebanon: Stories of the Land and Its People Facing Erasure

بلدة كفركلا هي بلدة جنوبية حدودية تشتهر بأراضيها الخصبة وأشجار الزيتون، إضافةً إلى علاقاتها التاريخية مع القرى الفلسطينية المجاورة قبل فرض الحدود الاستعمارية الحديثة. واجهت البلدة والقرى الحدودية في جنوب لبنان اعتداءات إسرائيلية منتظمة منذ عام 1948. ومع بدء الحرب الإسرائيلية على لبنان في 8 تشرين الأول 2023، تعرضت هذه القرى لإبادة بيئية ومكانية شملت القصف والتفجير والحرق واستخدام الفوسفور الأبيض، إضافةً إلى إعاقة العودة وإعادة الإعمار. ورغم غياب الدعم الرسمي، يبادر السكان عبر جهود جماعية ومبادرات محلية للحفاظ على صمودهم وعلاقتهم بالأرض واستمرارية الحياة فيها.

Publication

Responding to Ecocide in Lebanon: Recommendations for Official and Community Engagement in Sustainable Recovery

Since 8 October 2023, following the Israeli war on Lebanon and the ongoing ceasefire violations, the southern regions have endured widespread attacks on homes, infrastructure, public facilities, cultural landmarks, forests, and agricultural lands. …