Desolate sand sands the beach as waves crash with a stubborn anger, a soundtrack of loneliness that echoes through an abandoned shoreline. Once a colorful backdrop for parties, wedding portraits, sunsets, and cocktails, the sea now marks a country in retreat. The same waters carried the festive mood of summer into a rainy Lebanese winter, while nearby war drums beat out of sight. The Mediterranean, which once hid ancient ruins behind a tourist gaze, now serves primarily as a source of income and a memory of better days. In the cedar-country capital’s southern province, a reflection of a town already strained before October 7 now stares back. The world faces its steepest economic crisis since 1850, according to the World Bank.
“There are no tourists. Nothing is happening,” reports a bartender at Tire’s trendiest hotel, where the scene has shifted from bustling to a quiet hum. About twenty people work for two guests. Of the fourteen rooms that would typically be fully booked in peaceful times, only one is occupied. A 21-year-old worker, who prefers not to use his name for safety, tells El Periódico de Catalunya of the Prensa Ibérica group, Loneliness on Tire’s beaches has intensified as stress grows, casting a halo of doubt across streets, squares, hotels, and eateries. Since the Gaza conflict began, Israeli forces and Lebanese militias, including Hezbollah, have clashed along the shared border. Beyond the displacement of roughly 83,000 people from border villages and the reported casualties around 200 Lebanese—mostly Hezbollah supporters—these hostilities have deepened Lebanon’s fragile economy.
The situation is much worse now.
In December, the United Nations Development Program warned that Lebanon could lose two to four percent of its GDP due to the war. The World Bank recalls a 2006 outbreak of violence that lasted 33 days, resulting in a 10.5 percent GDP loss and $3.1 billion in direct and indirect damages; that period was historic in its economic impact. In the last four years, Lebanon has seen its currency collapse, inflation surge, and public services crumble. A frontline observer notes that the country was already in a severe economic crisis; now the pressure is intensified. Mona Shaker, head of a Tire humanitarian aid group, describes a landscape where NGOs supporting refugees and the most vulnerable are bracing for worse. Southern Lebanon is a focal point for the two main sectors that feed the Syrian economy, and the local tourism industry has been deeply damaged, contributing as much as forty percent of national income was eroded. Several countries, including Australia, France, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, advised their nationals to depart when possible. Restaurants have seen up to an eighty percent drop in activity, a reflection of the broader economic pain. A waiter in a Tire five-story restaurant explains the constant fear: bombs, planes, and drones may fall at any moment. The daily reality is hard, and living through it makes daily life feel almost unbearable.
Agriculture is under siege
Meanwhile, agriculture, once a sturdy backbone of the region, has suffered severe blows. Southern Lebanon produces a significant share of the nation’s fruit, citrus, and olives, with estimates showing about twenty-two percent of fruit and citrus and thirty-eight percent of olives coming from the south, according to the Ministry of Economy. The agricultural sector also accounts for a large portion of the region’s local GDP, with around eighty percent attributed to farming activities in the south, as reported by the United Nations Development Program. Farmers remember a time when tobacco and olives filled the harvest; in just three months they harvested enough to support the year, a memory that now feels distant. By January, the National Early Warning System recorded extensive damage across tens of hectares due to Israeli strikes, with eight million square meters affected by fires and other destruction.
Lebanon has faced accusations of using white phosphorus, a controversial incendiary linked to civilian harm under international law. The interim agriculture minister cited hundreds of forest fires traced to bombardments, resulting in the loss of thousands of olive trees during the olive harvest season in the south. Farmers warn that such attacks jeopardize the country’s food sovereignty. Unlike the 2006 crisis, the nation currently lacks cohesive governance, with political divisions and corruption hindering any durable agreement.
If the current trajectory continues, the coming summer will be arduous for many Lebanon families who fear the country will not attract visitors amid ongoing conflict. Yet, locals insist on resilience. “We are resilient people—we’ve endured worse and we’re not easily defeated,” says a shop clerk near a hotel lobby where friends pass the time. The sense of solidarity remains strong, even as the rain keeps circling the waves and the spectators remain away from the shore.