Khalil (R) collects turtle eggs and baby marine turtles at Mansouri Beach in 2004 [Getty]
A well-known Lebanese environmental activist, known for her turtle conservation work, was wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the south of the country earlier this week.
Mona Khalil was reportedly rushed to hospital after a strike on her beachfront home in the southern village of Mansouri on Thursday. According to information obtained by Lebanese news site Annahar, the attack also left her assistant with burn injuries.
Both women were taken to Jabal Amel Hospital in the city of Tyre, where Khalil underwent surgery for severe wounds, including a serious abdominal injury. She was later transferred to a hospital in Beirut.
Local media reported that her condition had stabilised by Friday morning.
Since Khalil was wounded in the strikes, social media has been awash with messages of solidarity for her, and condemnation of Israel’s actions in Lebanon.
“Mona is a legend. She spent her life protecting endangered sea turtles & their shoreline habitats…Israel knows who she is, where she is, & what she does. This bombing was a message,” one person wrote on X.
“Beekeepers, animal rescuers, turtle protectors, children in their mother’s arms, men protecting their homes from armed invaders…Israeli violence is utterly indiscriminate,” another commented.
Mansouri Beach, south of Tyre and around 8-10 km from the Israeli border, is a critical nesting ground for endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles. Conservation efforts there have been led by Khalil through the Orange House Project.
The project has protected the beach for decades, monitoring nests, tagging turtles, and releasing thousands of hatchlings into the Mediterranean each season.
The Orange House, where Khalil lived, became a well-known landmark in the area.
Relatives say Khalil refused to leave her home despite the dangers and despite its proximity to invading Israeli forces, which have established a security zone along the border deep inside southern Lebanon.
Mansouri, like around 70 towns and villages across the south, has been largely destroyed by the Israeli military.
Israel’s has killed at least 3,516 people in Lebanon since the start of the war, while the UNN says more than one million people have registered themselves as displaced due to the forced evacuation orders.
