The Lebanese Association for the Preservation of Tyre has issued an urgent appeal to President Joseph Aoun, urging him to take immediate action to halt what it describes as an environmental and cultural catastrophe unfolding in the Tyre Coast Nature Reserve. It also urged the Ministries of Culture and Environment to intervene decisively.
At a press conference held at the Press Syndicate in Beirut, association president Maha el-Khalil Chalabi sounded the alarm over what she called “systematic violations” threatening one of Lebanon’s most significant heritage sites. The violations center on the Jiftlik Ras al-Ain area, adjacent to the Tyre Marine Reserve, where, according to her, a large-scale commercial and military project is being constructed on protected land, despite a judicial order to halt all construction works.
According to Chalabi, the development includes over 150 shops, restaurants, residential units, an army club and barracks, built on property listed in the General Inventory of Ancient Buildings. The land is considered archaeologically sensitive, home to buried ruins of the Phoenician city of Tyre and its ancient harbor. The association says no license was obtained from the Ministry of Culture, as required by law.
“The Ministry of Defense entered into a Build-Operate-Transfer agreement with a private company, granting it rights over public property without an official decree,” Al-Shalabi stated. “This violates legal, environmental and heritage protections, and construction has proceeded despite multiple court orders to stop.”
Chalabi revealed that two judicial decisions had been issued by a judge in Tyre to immediately halt the work. Despite these rulings and the appointment of an expert to inspect the site, access was reportedly denied by military personnel.
Concerns escalated further on May 28 when a fire broke out in the reserve, destroying large sections of vegetation. Activists suspect the blaze was deliberately set to clear a path to the sea. Additionally, the site is reportedly being used as a dumping ground for rubble from buildings damaged in recent Israeli airstrikes, with sand being illegally extracted and sold, Chalabi said.
The association called for the Officers’ Club to be relocated to an alternative site that does not threaten cultural or ecological assets.
Despite repeated warnings, official letters and meetings with government representatives, including Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh, the association says no substantive action has been taken. Journalist Mehdi Karim was even briefly detained while trying to document the ongoing violations.
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