COVER-02 (4)

The Exemptions and Reconstruction Law: Not an Alternative to a Comprehensive National Plan

It was published in the Official Gazette on 17/7/2025

It was approved by the Parliament on 30/6/2025

It was passed with amendments by the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee on 26/6/2025

It was referred to the Parliament on 2/5/2025

The Council of Ministers approved the draft law on 6/3/2025

More than seven months after the ceasefire in Lebanon, on June 30, 2025, the Parliament passed the first law related to reconstruction in response to the Israeli war on Lebanon. Although it has yet to be published in the Official Gazette, the law comprises 14 articles addressing tax exemptions and support for affected individuals. Article 12 focuses specifically on the reconstruction of destroyed or damaged buildings.

Unlike the earlier draft proposed by the Mikati government—which largely replicated the 2006 post-war reconstruction law—the new law represents a partial improvement. It recognizes informal and historical housing conditions and considers the challenges of access to housing regardless of land tenure. It permits the reconstruction of buildings on public or private state-owned lands, subject to certain approvals, or otherwise offers financial assistance. 

Ultimately, the law is a limited step forward, highlighting the urgent need for a comprehensive national recovery plan for reconstruction.

Read the full commentary in Arabic.

ConstructionHousingPublic PropertyReconstruction and RecoveryLebanon
 
 
 

MP Kassem Hashem proposes an amendment to the Reconstruction Law integrating the inclusion of persons with disabilities:

A positive step in need of follow-up and completion.

Following the Lebanese Union of People with Disabilities’ campaign, MP Kassem Hashem submitted a proposal to amend law No. 22 to integrate the rights of people with disabilities. Currently, it is crucial to ...

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Between Rapid Response and Delayed Comprehensive Reconstruction

The Lebanese Parliament approved a $250 million World Bank loan to implement the LEAP project, aimed at emergency reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, restoring essential services, and managing debris, as one of the three ...

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Critiquing the government’s "Reconstruction Framework", this article exposes a narrow technical approach that reduces cities and villages to figures and compensation, while overlooking vital sectors and issues. The text calls for imagining a ...

Responding to Ecocide in Lebanon: 

Recommendations for Official and Community Engagement in Sustainable Recovery

Public Works Studio and the Arab Reform Initiative are organizing the launch event of their joint research paper, “Responding to Ecocide in Lebanon: Recommendations for Official and Community Engagement in Sustainable Recovery,” on …

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

Since 8 October 2023, border villages in southern Lebanon have suffered systematic ecocide, with Israel targeting infrastructure, forests, and agricultural lands, aimed at enforcing displacement and making the area uninhabitable. Over the past ...

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. …

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 ...

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 ...