Mourners gathered Sunday in Beirut to pay their respects to Mona Khalil, a beloved Lebanese conservationist who died Friday from wounds sustained in an Israeli strike on her home in the coastal village of Mansouri earlier this month. She was 76.
Decades of Sea Turtle Conservation
Khalil spent more than two decades protecting endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles along Lebanon’s southern coastline. She helped transform the Orange House in Mansouri into a conservation hub and ecotourism site, serving as a refuge for turtles and a training ground for volunteers who documented nesting activity.
Journalist and environmental activist Fadia Jomaa first met Khalil in 2016 while researching sea turtles and later volunteered with her. “This relationship didn’t stop at being a volunteering relationship — Mona became our mother,” Jomaa said. Jomaa eventually helped manage the sea turtle conservation project and brought her own children to volunteer.
Refusal to Leave During Conflict
During the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Khalil initially refused to leave Al-Mansouri beach. The Lebanese army eventually persuaded her to evacuate. “She was the last one to leave the area,” Jomaa said. Khalil held dual Dutch-Lebanese citizenship and could have left Lebanon, but she chose to stay. “She said I am a civilian, I have no weapons, I will shut my door,” Jomaa recalled.
Another Israel-Hezbollah war erupted in March 2026 after Hezbollah fired into Israel on March 2, two days after Israel and the US attacked Iran. On June 4, an Israeli strike hit Khalil’s home. She and her domestic worker were hospitalized. The Israeli military stated that Khalil “was not a target of the IDF” and that “there is no known IDF strike in which she was injured,” but added that “strikes were conducted in the area after the IDF issued evacuation warnings.” The military said it “deeply regrets any harm caused to civilians.”
Outpouring of Grief
Khalil’s death triggered an outpouring of grief among environmentalists and volunteers. Johnny Baaklini, a former volunteer at the Orange House, said, “It is a great loss for conservation, for the country, and for all of us who cared about the sea and the natural heritage of Lebanon.” He recalled that Khalil “treated us, the conservation advocates, like her kids.”
At the heart of Khalil’s work was Al-Mansouri beach in Tyre province. Each nesting season, she and volunteers patrolled the beach at night, marking tracks and relocating nests away from human activity and light pollution. The Orange House also functioned as a bed-and-breakfast, where Khalil organized sea turtle hatchling viewings at sunset for families.
Jomaa said Khalil often pointed to an olive tree or a hill overlooking the beach and said, “This is where you will bury me.” Where Khalil will be buried remains uncertain due to the security situation in the area.
