Salam in Nabatieh: Rehabilitation projects, but no ‘illusions’
The prime minister says a "single" state is the only guarantee of an Israeli withdrawal and an end to the war, warning against betting on a "regional settlement" at the Lebanese people’s expense.
by L'Orient Today staff · L'Orient TodayBEIRUT — Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and several members of his government visited Nabatieh on Friday morning to announce rehabilitation projects, though without "selling illusions" about the challenges ahead. The major southern Lebanese city lies just kilometers from the Israeli-occupied zone and villages still under heavy bombardment.
During the tour, Salam laid the foundation stone for a new Civil Defense headquarters to replace the one destroyed by an Israeli strike in May 2026. He emphasized the importance of strengthening the state, calling it the "sole guarantee" of an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, young people from Nabatieh Fawqa, a neighboring village under Israeli control, attempted to force their way through to their land.
Noting that this was his third visit to Nabatieh since taking office in February 2025, Salam lamented that "the scale of destruction has increased" since his last visit, when he announced reconstruction plans shortly before the war resumed.
Nevertheless, he reaffirmed his government's commitment to southern Lebanon and Nabatieh, noting that he had raised residents' "needs and concerns" during visits to New York and Washington over the past two weeks.
Rehabilitation projects and restoration of the Serail
Salam announced that the Council for Development and Reconstruction had launched about 20 tenders for rehabilitation projects in the Nabatieh district, including establishing shelters and providing ambulances and communications equipment.
Another 12 tenders will be issued in October, notably to rehabilitate five hospitals in the region, Salam added. While acknowledging that these initiatives are "limited," he emphasized that they represent "concrete and tangible measures" to support residents.
The announcements come as renovation work led by a private individual is already underway at the Nabatieh Serail, which was heavily damaged in an April 2026 strike that killed several State Security personnel. Various administrative offices, including the courthouse, are also due to reopen soon.
"I am here today to reaffirm the return of state institutions to normal operations," the prime minister added, while acknowledging that "the scale of needs exceeds the Lebanese state's resources and its capacity to shoulder all these burdens alone."
"I am not here to sell you illusions," he conceded, while stressing the Cabinet's determination to "mobilize everything it can to help the South recover."
The two wars killed nearly 9,000 people in Lebanon, and Lebanese authorities estimate that reconstruction could cost up to $27 billion.
Since Israel seized and demolished Hezbollah infrastructure beneath Ali Taher hill, which overlooks the Nabatieh region, authorities have taken several steps to strengthen the state's presence in the city. These include security and military deployments and the announcement that the local courthouse will soon reopen.
Residents had expressed fears of an Israeli offensive against the city and called for it to be disarmed. Several ministers, including Justice Minister Adel Nassar, as well as U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa, had visited the area before Salam.
The first "pilot zone" was established in this area, in the village of Zawtar Gharbieh on the north bank of the Litani River. These zones are part of the framework agreement reached in June between Lebanon and Israel, but their implementation remains on hold pending further negotiations. Military talks, excluding political issues, are scheduled for mid-October in Florida under this framework
Salam: Only 'real guarantee' is the state
Amid fears of renewed war, stalled talks and heightened regional tensions, Salam emphasized that the "real guarantee" against such a scenario is "a capable and effective state, a single state for all its citizens, with one army and a unified decision-making authority, particularly regarding war and peace."
He also warned against pinning hopes on a "major regional settlement," noting that it might "never materialize, take years to happen, or come at our expense."
Lebanon has twice been plunged into war by Hezbollah: first in October 2023, when it opened a front in support of Gaza, and again in March 2026, when it launched attacks in solidarity with Iran.
The cease-fire, theoretically in effect since June, was brokered as part of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, an agreement that has since been undermined. Hezbollah has claimed no further attacks against Israel during this period.
Earlier, Salam, accompanied by Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar and Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, visited the gendarmerie barracks in Kfar al-Joz.
"We commend the efforts of the security forces stationed here and stand with them," the prime minister told the gendarmerie units, according to our southern Lebanon correspondent. He praised the officers "who ensure the safety of the population."
Hajjar affirmed that "the state will always stand by its citizens."
Advance toward Nabatieh Fawqa
During the official visit, residents of Nabatieh Fawqa, two kilometers north of the city, took advantage of the relative calm to reach the outskirts of their village, which remains under the occupying forces' fire control. Accompanied by an ambulance, several dozen men managed to advance toward the village and inspect homes there for the first time in months.
When Salam arrived in Nabatieh, several residents of the neighboring village confronted him, calling for the Lebanese Army to deploy to Nabatieh Fawqa. Another woman lamented conditions in the area, likening it to "Karbala" — the Iraqi city where Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad and the third Shiite imam, was massacred alongside his family by the Umayyads in a seventh-century battle.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued its attacks overnight and into the morning. On Friday morning, it fired two shells at the outskirts of Hebbarieh in the Hasbaya district, a village outside the "buffer zone." It also shelled Wadi Slouqi in the Marjayoun district, Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district, and Mansouri and Zibqine in the Sour district.
On Thursday evening, Israeli fire targeted Wadi Zibqine, the outskirts of Shebaa in the Hasbaya district, and Nabatieh Fawqa, Mayfadoun and Kfar Tibnit in the Nabatieh district. A powerful demolition blast was also reported in Mansouri.
Reporting contributed by our southern Lebanon correspondent, Muntasser Abdallah
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