Lebanese turtle conservationist Mona Khalil dies after Israeli air strike

Mona Khalil spent more than two decades protecting sea turtle nesting grounds on Lebanon’s southern coast, and she died in the home she had refused to abandon. The 77-year-old environmental activist was severely wounded when an Israeli air strike hit the Orange House on Mansouri beach near Tyre earlier this month, then died on Friday, June 19, 2026, after days in hospital.

Khalil’s conservation work began with a chance encounter in 1999, when she saw a turtle laying eggs on al-Mansouri beach near Tyre. A year later, she and her partner Habiba Fayyad established the Orange House as an eco-tourism and environmental project that grew into a sanctuary for wildlife, a center for environmental education and research, and a gathering place for volunteers, activists and visitors. For Khalil, the beach was not just scenery; it was a living habitat she treated as worth defending.

Her efforts helped protect Hima Qoleileh–Mansouri, a seven-kilometer stretch of sandy and rocky coastline that hosts more than 58 endangered sea turtle nests each year and is considered one of Lebanon’s most important nesting sites. Khalil worked with loggerhead and green sea turtles, two endangered species whose survival depends on safe nesting beaches, low disturbance and steady local stewardship. The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon said Khalil had “devoted her life” to Lebanon’s fragile coastal ecosystems and called her one of “the strongest pillars” of that effort.

That local stewardship extended beyond one woman’s labor. The society said Khalil helped build cooperation among municipalities, environmental groups, youth groups and volunteers, turning conservation into a shared civic effort rather than an isolated project. Environmental group Live Love Tyre also mourned her death, saying she stayed to care for the turtles. Her cousin, journalist Ramsay Short, said she had repeatedly refused to leave the Orange House despite the dangers.

Khalil’s death came as Israel escalated air attacks on southern Lebanon, with at least 50 people killed and dozens injured the same day. Her killing underscored how war strips away more than human life: it weakens the people, institutions and local knowledge that keep fragile ecosystems alive, and it leaves communities with fewer guardians for the coast they depend on.