Rhino: Agencies – Residents of Beirut’s predominantly Shiite southern suburb has been on edge since an Israeli airstrike on the suburb last week killed Fouad Shukr, a senior military commander in the Shiite armed group Hezbollah, along with five civilians.

Hours later, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran. Hezbollah and other Iranian allies have vowed to retaliate against Israel.

Many in Dahiyeh fear that the airstrike could be a harbinger of hostilities inside Lebanon, which have been mostly confined to the border area with Israel for the past ten months in parallel with the Gaza war.

In the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, Israeli raids destroyed buildings in the suburb, prompting residents to flee to other towns and cities in search of safety.

In the aftermath of last week’s raid, Dahiya residents told Reuters they started looking for apartments either in Alia, or further east in the Bekaa Valley.

But as demand increased, monthly rents in those areas skyrocketed, with some reaching $1,000, too high for those on limited incomes.

Lebanon’s sectarian discord and strife, following decades of civil war between 1975 and 1990, also complicates the search for housing, making it harder than in the past for Dahiyeh residents to find shelter.