Turtle Guardian Mona Khalil Killed in Israeli Strike
Mona Khalil, who once turned a stretch of Lebanon’s south coast into a safe haven for endangered sea turtles, has died after being wounded in an Israeli strike on her Mansouri Beach home.
Khalil, 76, was injured when the house on Mansouri beach near Tyre was hit during Israeli air attacks two weeks earlier. She spent several days in hospital before succumbing on Friday, according to a local environmental group.
Her death comes amid intensified Israeli air strikes across southern Lebanon, raising concerns about renewed violence despite diplomatic efforts to maintain a fragile regional peace.
“She is a deeply committed environmental defender,” said Hisham Younes, founder and president of Green Southerners. “Her bond to the beach, the sunset, the water and the turtles… she was really into conservation and the spirit of it.”
For more than 25 years, Khalil protected loggerhead and green sea turtles that nest along Lebanon’s southern coast, starting after a life‑changing encounter with a turtle laying eggs on Mansouri beach in 1999.
She helped establish the Orange House Project in 2000, an eco‑tourism and conservation initiative that evolved into a center for environmental education, wildlife protection, and marine research.
Her work secured protected status for parts of the coastline and raised awareness of threats to marine ecosystems, including coastal development, pollution and destructive fishing practices.
Friends and colleagues noted her steadfast determination, refusing to leave the beach she spent years safeguarding, even after her home had been damaged during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Her home was barricaded; she received no visitors and believed she was safe because she is a civilian,” said environmental activist Maha Joumaa.
Khalil’s legacy will endure through the conservation movement she helped build and the generations of turtles that continue to return to Lebanon’s shores, a testament to her impact and love for the environment.
