Who was Mona Khalil, Lebanese Conservationist Killed By Israel?

Renowned Lebanese conservationist and environmentalist Mona Khalil has succumbed to injuries caused by an Israeli strike. Khalil passed away more than two weeks after the June 4 attack in which her home was bombed in the southern village of al-Mansouri in the Tyre province.

Her death occurred on a day of intensified airstrikes across southern Lebanon that left at least 20 people dead, less than 24 hours after a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah was announced.

The news of her passing prompted widespread mourning, drawing a large gathering of environmentalists and volunteers in Beirut on Sunday. The environmental group Live Love Beirut stated, “It is with deep sadness that we mourn the passing of Mona Khalil today. She succumbed to her injuries after her house was bombed in Mansouri. She will be remembered through an incredible legacy,” in an Instagram post.

Life & Work

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1949, Khalil held dual Lebanese and Dutch citizenship. After living in the Netherlands, she returned to Lebanon and transformed her grandmother’s former home into “The Orange House”. The property grew into a recognised ecotourism site and conservation hub dedicated to protecting the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified endangered green sea turtles and vulnerable loggerhead sea turtles along al-Mansouri beach.

The famous bed-and-breakfast also became the training ground for volunteers documenting nesting activity along the coast

Khalil’s lifelong devotion to animal conservation began in 1999 along a narrow stretch of al-Mansouri beach, sparked by a chance encounter with a sea turtle emerging from the ocean to nest.

For more than two decades, Khalil and a network of volunteers worked to shield these species from the threats of coastal development, plastic pollution, and commercial fishing nets. During nesting seasons, they patrolled the coastline at night to track nesting activity and relocate vulnerable eggs away from human disruption and artificial light pollution. Her sustained efforts and awareness campaigns about the many threats that marine ecosystems in Lebanon face eventually secured protected status for portions of the local coastline.

Khalil's Legacy

Khalil was widely known for her refusal to abandon the sanctuary during periods of instability. Reflecting on the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, she told CNN in a 2017 interview, “I refused to go. It was the hatching season.”

Her lifelong dedication left a profound impact on those who worked alongside her. Environmental activist and close friend Maha Joumaa told Al Jazeera, “She absolutely refused to be displaced, which was fitting for someone so determined.” Joumaa recalled conversations where Khalil would look toward the landscape near the beach and “She used to say, ‘My soul will stay here,’” and “She used to say, ‘This is where you will bury me.’”

Remembering a meeting with Khalil in 2017, Paul Abi Rached, the president of Terre Liban, told the BBC, “Her love for the turtles was evident in every word and every action, but so was her love for people”.

Local environmental groups emphasised that her legacy would not only include the marine life she protected but also the love and care for turtles she inspired in people across the region.