Looters in Beirut punished publicly as thievery rises during conflict

Alleged looters have faced public punishment in southern areas of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, as shown in videos circulating on social media, particularly gaining attention on Wednesday. 

In what is said to be the locals’ response to the rise of thievery amid Israel’s intensifying strikes across the country’s south, suspected thieves have been hanged or tied to street poles, wounded and bleeding. 

Passers-by photographed them, uploaded the pictures to social media networks. 

Those accused of theft were seen hanged or tied to street poles, often blindfolded and visibly injured or bleeding from confrontations with local vigilantes.  

Some individuals were also marked with banners around their necks, bearing the word "harami," meaning "thief" in Arabic.  

Some social media posts accused individuals of "exploiting the war and stealing from houses" in the Al-Rabiri area in the southern Dahiyah suburb of Beirut.

However other forms of speculation arose that Hezbollah might be behind the public punishments, as video footage suggests chaos caused by a lack of governance in southern Lebanon.  

Another user on social media platform X posted images of alleged thieves, stating they had stolen from civilians displaced by ongoing Israeli attacks, warning that "collaborators will soon suffer the same fate." 

A widely shared video online features a woman, said to be a local from Bourj el-Barajneh, claiming the absence of Hezbollah security has turned the area into a "paradise for thieves" preying on evacuated families. 

"The Dahiyah used to be a very, very secure area. It was impossible to take pictures in the street without encountering Hezbollah's security personnel," she added. 

As frustration grows in southern Lebanon amid rising crime and the ongoing conflict, residents are also dealing with a displacement crisis. 

According to local media, many families have fled Dahiyah after initially seeking refuge in supposedly safer areas like Tyre, Sidon, and Nabatieh. 

However, as the conflict intensified, these areas also became unsafe, forcing families to move northward once again.  

For some, this marks their second or even third displacement, exacerbating the challenges they face amid the ongoing war on Lebanon. 

Since Israel intensified its military actions across southern Lebanon in recent weeks, over 1,000 people have been killed, with more than one million forced to flee their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.