Hundreds of Thousands of Books Buried Under Rubble in Beirut After Strikes Hit Publishers and Libraries

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published March 28, 2026

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A major cultural loss has unfolded in Beirut after strikes hit book warehouses, libraries, and publishing facilities, leaving behind severe damage to archives and printed knowledge built over years. According to Al Araby Al Jadeed, the damage affected several cultural institutions, including the warehouses of Mominoun Bila Hodoud and the Philosofia bookstore, as the wider military escalation in Lebanon continues to hit civilian and cultural infrastructure.

The outlet reported that Mominoun Bila Hodoud’s director general, Mhiar Al Kurdi, said the publisher’s warehouse in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which covered about 1,000 square metres, was struck twice between Friday night and early Saturday. The building collapsed and burned, destroying around 400,000 books collected since the publisher launched in 2016. That figure turns the story into more than a material loss. It points to the destruction of a large body of Arab knowledge that cannot be quickly replaced.

Damage also hit the Philosofia bookstore. Its director, Abbas Fakih, said the bookstore’s two floors were affected, along with its warehouse in Haret Hreik, adding that this was the fourth time the bookstore had come under attack since 2024. The incident highlights how exposed Lebanon’s publishing sector has become, with repeated damage and no clear fast-track path for compensation or recovery.

The broader picture had already emerged days earlier, when reports said around 11 public libraries across Lebanon had been affected, including three that were completely destroyed, while officials moved to place blue shields on heritage sites for wartime protection. The damage, in other words, is no longer limited to private publishers. It is spreading across Lebanon’s wider reading and cultural space.