Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, by Israel to the south, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance away from the country's coastline. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterlands has contributed to the country's rich history and shaped a unique cultural identity denoted by religious diversity. Located in the Levant region of the Eastern Mediterranean, the country has a population of more than five million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Lebanon's capital and largest city is Beirut, followed by Tripoli and Jounieh. While Arabic is the official language, French is also recognized in a formal capacity; Lebanese Arabic is the country's vernacular, though French and English play a relatively significant role in everyday life, with Modern Standard Arabic being limited to news and government matters.
The Qana massacre took place on April 18, 1996, near Qana, a village in Southern Lebanon, when the Israel Defense Forces fired artillery shells at a United Nations compound. The artillery barrage had been launched to cover an Israeli special forces unit after it had come under mortar fire launched from the vicinity of the compound and radioed a request for support. Of 800 Lebanese civilians who had taken refuge in the compound, 106 were killed and around 116 injured. Four Fijian United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon soldiers were also seriously injured.
White phosphorus munitions are weapons that use one of the common allotropes of the chemical element phosphorus. White phosphorus is used in smoke, illumination, and incendiary munitions, and is commonly the burning element of tracer ammunition. Other common names for white phosphorus munitions include WP and the slang terms Willie Pete and Willie Peter, which are derived from William Peter, the World War II phonetic alphabet rendering of the letters WP. White phosphorus is pyrophoric ; burns fiercely; and can ignite cloth, fuel, ammunition, and other combustibles.
Chouf is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon.
Operation Grapes of Wrath, known in Lebanon as the April Aggression, was a seventeen-day campaign of the Israeli Defense Forces against Hezbollah in 1996 which attempted to end rocket attacks on Northern Israel by the organisation. Israel conducted more than 1,100 air raids and extensive shelling. A UNIFIL compound at Qana was hit when Israeli artillery fired on Hezbollah forces operating nearby. 639 Hezbollah cross-border rocket attacks targeted northern Israel, particularly the town of Kiryat Shemona. Hezbollah forces also participated in numerous engagements with Israeli and South Lebanon Army forces. The conflict was de-escalated on 27 April by a ceasefire agreement banning attacks on civilians.
Southern Lebanon is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost districts of the Beqaa Governorate, in Southern Lebanon are sometimes included.
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War, was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Golan Heights. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The conflict started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon. Due to unprecedented Iranian military support to Hezbollah before and during the war, some consider it the first round of the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, rather than a continuation of the Arab–Israeli conflict.
The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The conflict originated with the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. Following the withdrawal, Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, and a civil war between Hamas and Fatah in 2007 culminated in Hamas gaining control over Gaza.
Incidents in the Gaza War include incidents involving attacks against civilians, a school, a mosque, and naval confrontations.
The 932nd "Granite" Battalion is part of the Israeli Defense Force's Nahal Brigade.
Nabatieh, or Nabatîyé, is the city of the Nabatieh Governorate, in southern Lebanon. The population is not accurately known as no census has been taken in Lebanon since the 1930s; estimates range from 15,000 to 120,000. A 2006 population estimate by the now-closed German population site called World Gazetteer put the population at 100,541, which would make it the fifth largest city in Lebanon, according to the 2006 population estimates of Lebanese cities, but after an update in either 2007 or 2008 and calculations for the following years the 2013 population estimate turned out to be much lower at 36,593 and making the city the 11th largest in Lebanon behind Tyre, Bint Jbeil, Zahlé, Sidon, Baalbek, Jounieh, Tripoli and Beirut according to those 2013 estimates. It is the main city in the Jabal Amel area and the chief center for both the mohafazat, or governorate, and the kaza, or canton both also called Nabatieh. Nabatieh is an important town both economically and culturally.
Ramiz Rizq is a Lebanese writer born in 1954, in the town of Meiss ej-Jabal, south of Lebanon. His literary works often focused on his birth town, as he published many books about Meiss ej-Jabal. He has also published three novels and two collections of short stories, as well as a book that studies the development of Imami Shiite jurisprudence and ideologies under the title A Reading in the History of Imami Jurisprudence.
Ayta al-Jabal or Aayta Ej Jabal, also Ayta ez-Zutt, is a village in Nabatiye Governorate, in the Bint Jbeil District of southern Lebanon, about 112 kilometres (70 mi) from Beirut. The village is situated in the southern outskirts of the town of Tebnine, in the heart of the Lebanese Shia Muslim community of Jabal Amel. The village sits on an elevation of 680 metres (2,230 ft) above sea level.
Saksakiyeh is a town in the Sidon District of the South Governorate in Lebanon. It is located 61 kilometres (38 mi) from Beirut and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Sidon. It has an elevation of 100m.
Events of the year 2023 in Israel.
Events in the year 2023 in Lebanon.
On 8 October 2023, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired guided rockets and artillery shells at Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms one day into the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Israel retaliated by launching drone strikes and artillery shells at Hezbollah positions near Lebanon's boundary with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The outbreak of the conflict had followed Hezbollah's declaration of support and praise for the Hamas attack on Israel, which took place on 7 October. It is currently the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict to have occurred since the 2006 Lebanon War.
A significant number of attacks on healthcare facilities occurred during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. During the first week of the war, there were 94 attacks on health care facilities in Israel and Gaza, killing 29 health care workers and injuring 24. The attacks on healthcare facilities contributed to a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. By 30 November, the World Health Organization documented 427 attacks on healthcare in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, resulting in 566 fatalities and 758 injuries.
