BEIRUT: Mohammed Al-Arab, a Syrian refugee, was displaced from Bab Sabaa in Homs (30 kilometers northeast of the Lebanese-Syrian border) to Beirut as war raged in his country.
He left his house and shop in July 2012, after he and his family were displaced due to the bombing, deciding to seek refuge in Lebanon until the war ended.
Eight years have passed since the displacement; Al-Arab settled in Beirut, rented a home for his family in the Corniche Al-Mazraa area, and resumed his work as a plumber. Years passed, and his children grew older.
“A few weeks ago, my wife told me we needed a freezer. I went to a store that sells electrical appliances in a working-class neighborhood in Beirut.” Whilst there, he was surprised to stumble across a refrigerator — the one he and his family had left behind in Bab Sabaa.
“I froze. I was unable to speak. It was like someone I had seen someone I thought was dead,” he told Arab News. “I remembered the day I bought this fridge in Homs — it cost me 40,000 Syrian pounds, the equivalent of $800 at the time. Its brand is Al-Joud, made in Syria and manufactured in Lattakia. I checked the fridge well. I recognized it from a distinguishing mark in one of its lower corners. I asked the seller about the price and, after some bargaining, managed to buy it for 580,000 Lebanese pounds ($380).
Al-Arab said that when he brought the fridge home, his wife screamed and cried, and so did his daughter. “My wife said: ‘This fridge is a symbol of our suffering, our weariness and our lives. We bought it at a time when we were enjoying stability in our country and the roof of a home we owned protected us,’” he added.
The family home was “destroyed by bombing that demolished the ceilings and walls, and there was no trace of furniture inside the house and no goods in the shop, according to the pictures that relatives sent us after the war in the area subsided,” Al-Arab said. “That means that the stuff was stolen before the destruction. What survived the theft was my car that I parked in front of my wife’s family home, far from the area of the clashes.”
Al-Arab refused to reveal the identity of the merchant who sold him the fridge, and Arab News tried to follow the path of this fridge and how it got to Beirut.
Syrian refugees have many stories of stolen goods and their sale. Jumah, a young greengrocer from Idlib who works in Lebanon, said: “Syrians who fled from Aleppo to Idlib to escape the battles were surprised after a period of time that the contents of their homes were sold in public markets in Idlib.”
Sami, a young Lebanese from the Bekaa, said: “During the years of war in Syria, the stolen goods from nearby areas to the Lebanese borders were smuggled into Lebanon and displayed in Bekaa towns for sale. Among these stolen goods were tractors, windows, home furniture and electrical tools.”
Dr. Hadi Murad is a physician and activist in the field of combating smuggling medicine across the Lebanese-Syrian border. Murad, who lives in Brital on the border with Syria, said: “All villages and towns on the common border between Lebanon and Syria, specifically the towns of Nabi Chit, Brital, and Al-Khader, are crossings for all types of smuggling. More than 50 percent of the illegal crossings are in this region, and are protected by Hezbollah.”
Al-Arab does not care much about the thefts that occurred. For him, this matter has become of secondary importance. The priority is to know the fate of missing people instead.
“Our pain is much greater than the issue of thefts,” he said. “The Syrian people are exhausted. Our children are left without education, and no one can protect us in the countries (we have emigrated to). We are left to our destinies, without medical care nor education, nor do we know the fate of the missing in Syria. The father of my brother-in-law left his home and disappeared; my cousin left his home to buy a bundle of bread and never came back. Many tragedies have not been written yet.”
A Syrian refugee whose fridge was stolen from his home in Homs finds it in Beirut
https://arab.news/2g6zt
A Syrian refugee whose fridge was stolen from his home in Homs finds it in Beirut
- I checked the fridge well. I recognized it from a distinguishing mark in one of its lower corners: Al-Arab
- He said that when he brought the fridge home, his wife screamed and cried, and so did his daughter
Gaza’s ceasefire had some momentum. Now, some fear a new war will distract the world
- Residents say they are scared of neglect and deprivation, with Israel in the wake of the weekend strikes closing all crossings into their shattered territory of over 2 million people
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Some Palestinians say they fear the widening war sparked by US and Israeli attacks against Iran could overshadow the fragile situation in Gaza, just over a week after US President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for the territory’s reconstruction and tried to nudge a ceasefire forward.
Residents say they are scared of neglect and deprivation, with Israel in the wake of the weekend strikes closing all crossings into their shattered territory of over 2 million people.
Palestinians told The Associated Press they were rushing to markets, haunted by memories of painful food scarcity last year under months of Israel’s blockade. Part of Gaza, around Gaza City, was found to be in famine.
“When the crossings shut down, everything was suspended from the market,” said Osamda Hanoda from Khan Younis. “The prices go up, and people live in misery.”
Reports show prices of goods rising sharply
The shaky Israel-Hamas ceasefire had led to more humanitarian aid and other supplies entering Gaza, even as the United Nations and aid partners say more of everything from basic medical supplies to fuel is needed.
Now, Palestinians are hoarding again, with reports of prices rising sharply for basic goods such as bags of flour.
“We are afraid of not finding milk” and diapers for the kids, or food and water, said Hassan Zanoun, who was displaced from Rafah.
COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday. In its announcement of the closings, it asserted that the food supply inside the territory “is expected to suffice for an extended period.” It added that the rotation of humanitarian workers in and out of Gaza is postponed.
It was not clear when any crossing might reopen. Israeli authorities focused on Iran, and citizens dashed repeatedly for shelter as sirens wailed.
Ramadan is disrupted
The war in Gaza began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and it’s been marked from the start by restrictions on people and supplies being allowed into the territory — and terrified people, including medical evacuees in need of treatment, getting out.
A month ago, Gaza’s main Rafah border crossing with the outside world — its only crossing not with Israel — reopened, allowing a small and tightly controlled flow of Palestinian traffic in both directions. No cargo was allowed through.
Now all crossings are closed again in the middle of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a time of chosen deprivation, evening feasts and prayer. Images have shown Palestinians lined up at long tables in the middle of bombed-out debris.
The strikes on Iran shook that routine.
“All the people rushed to markets, and they all wanted to shop and hide,” said Abeer Awwad, who was displaced from Gaza City, as word of the explosions in Tehran began to spread.
Under the Oct. 10 US-brokered ceasefire, the heaviest fighting has subsided, though regular Israeli fire continues in Gaza. The UN World Food Program has noted progress in the enclave but said in its latest food security analysis last week that hunger remains.
“Households reported an average of two meals per day in February 2026, compared to one meal in July,” it said. “Still, one in five households consumed only one meal daily.”
A challenge for aid groups and others
Refocusing the world’s attention on Gaza is a challenge for aid groups and others as Iran scrambles for new leadership and explosions continue in Tehran, Israel and around the Middle East.
Trump has said bombing in Iran could continue through the week or longer, and warned Tehran of “A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” if it escalates attacks.
It’s a dramatic turn from Trump’s launch less than two weeks ago of his new Board of Peace, a gathering of world leaders that is aimed at ending the war in Gaza but has ambitions of resolving conflicts elsewhere.
Even with that bump in momentum on Gaza, major challenges remain for the ceasefire. They include disarming Hamas, assembling and deploying an international stabilization force, and getting a newly appointed Palestinian committee meant to govern Gaza into the territory.
As the Middle East turns to another war, some Palestinians see a benefit: Israel’s military is distracted.
“The good thing is that the sound of booms and demolitions is rare now near the yellow line,” said Ahmed Abu Jahl, of Gaza City, speaking about the line dividing Gaza and marking out roughly half the territory controlled by Israeli forces.
“Even the drones, they are still flying overhead, but their number has gone down.”
