Rebuilding Dahiyeh: Iman Ali on Reconstruction and Ruin in Lebanon

Iman Ali, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at Cornell University, has detailed the severe material and political obstacles facing Lebanon’s Shi’i community in the wake of recent conflict. In her article, Repair Amid Ongoing Ruination—Rebuilding Dahiyeh Once More, published in the Winter 2025 issue of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) publication Reconstruction and Ruin, Ali examines the challenges of restoring the Dahiyeh, the southern district of Beirut.

Ali’s findings are based on fieldwork conducted in Lebanon to analyze the impacts of the war that occurred in the fall of 2024. Her research also accounts for the period following the ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024, during which she notes that Israeli drone and missile attacks have continued on an almost daily basis.

Comparison of Reconstruction Eras

A central component of Ali’s analysis is the comparison between the current effort to rebuild the Dahiyeh and the reconstruction process that followed the 2006 war between Hizballah and Israel. Ali argues that the landscape for rebuilding today is fundamentally different from the conditions present two decades ago.

Following the 2006 campaign, Hizballah successfully rebuilt the neighborhoods of the Dahiyeh. This effort was characterized by the leadership of Hizballah’s then-secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, and was supported by funding provided by various global and regional partners.

In contrast, Ali identifies three primary factors that have complicated the current attempt at repair:

• Lack of Financing: Funding for reconstruction is not currently forthcoming.
• Leadership Vacuum: The leadership of Hizballah has been decimated.
• Persistent Insecurity: There is a pervasive threat of renewed or continued Israeli aggression.

Impact on Shi’i Communities

The research highlights the intense burden placed on Lebanon’s Shi’i communities due to their resistance to Israeli aggression. Ali’s work focuses on the immense political and material challenges these communities have faced over the last year and a half, navigating a cycle of ruination and attempted repair.

The discussion of these themes was further expanded in a MERIP podcast episode recorded on February 25, 2026. In that conversation, Ali spoke with MERIP executive director James Ryan and Najib Hourani, an associate professor of anthropology and global urban studies at Michigan State University and emeritus member of the MERIP editorial committee.

During the discussion, the participants addressed the longer history of the Dahiyeh and the specific socio-political pressures currently affecting the region’s inhabitants as they attempt to recover from the 2024 conflict.