Al-Aadaissah or Odaisseh ( / BGN: Aadaïssé /

ISO 233 The international standard ISO 233 establishes a system for romanization of Arabic script. It was supplemented by ISO 233-2 in 1993 which is specific for Arabic language. 1984 edition The table below shows the consonants for the Arabic langua ...

: ; also ''Adaisseh'', , , ''Odeissah'' and

other spellings Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * The Other (1913 film), ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * The Ot ...

) is a municipality in south

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. It is located close to the Blue Line border with Israel, opposite the Israeli

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Misgav Am Misgav Am () is a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel. Located close to the border with Lebanon, facing the Lebanese town of Odaisseh, and near the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Reg ...

. The majority of its population are

Shia Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

Etymology

According to

E. H. Palmer Edward Henry Palmer (7 August 184010 August 1882), known as E. H. Palmer, was an England, English oriental studies, orientalist and explorer. Biography Youth and education Palmer was born in Green Street, Cambridge, the son of a private scho ...

, the name ''Odeithat et Tahta'' means "the lower ’Odeitha". Odaisseh

History

Ottoman period

Just north of Al-Aadaissah is a place formerly called Odeitha el Foka''. In 1875,

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

described it as "an elevated plateau crowned with the ruins of a small fort of rectangular form, measuring forty paces long by thirty broad. It is in rubble work, with an external casing of regular stones of small size, and is divided in the interior into several compartments." In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) found here: "A ruined

Saracenic upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Roma ...

building with one

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p
137
/ref> In 1881, SWP found at the village (which it called ''Odeitha et Tahtâ'') "

s and several

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

s." It further described it as "A village, built of stone, containing about 250

Metawileh Lebanese Shia Muslims (), communally and historically known as ''matāwila'' (, plural of ''mutawālin''; pronounced as ''metouéle'' in Lebanese Arabic), are Lebanese people who are adherents of Shia Islam in Lebanon, which plays a major role ...

, situated in valley surrounded by arable land. A market is held here one day each week. Water supply from spring in village, spring near, and several

s."

21st century

The village was the site of the 2010 Lebanon–Israeli border clash, when Israeli and Lebanese forces engaged in cross-border combat.

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

's participation in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

(2023-), backing

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

and initiating attacks on

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, escalated the border zone into an active war zone characterized by frequent cross-border attacks. As a result, almost all of the village's residents have left. Adaysseh-hezb

On the 21–23 October 2024, a number of buildings in Al-Aadaissah were demolished by the Israeli military, among them a cultural centre and the family home of Lubnan Baalbaki, the conductor of Lebanon's philharmonic orchestra. The centre was full of his father's, the artist Abdel-Hamid Baalbaki ( ar), collection of fine art and pottery, in addition to 2,000 manuscripts and books. Al-Aadaissah had observation and various missile lunchers posts situated around the village and its countryside from which several attacks were carried out on the nearby, lower, Israeli civilian settlements. According to Israeli reports, Odaisseh was supposed to be the jump-off point for Hezbollah's conquest of

by a company of the

Redwan Force The al-Hajj Radwan Force (, , also spelled Redwan or Ridwan) is a special operation forces unit of Hezbollah. Its main mission is to infiltrate the territory of Israel, with specific attention to Galilee and northern Israel. Hezbollah has train ...

. In just one raid, the IDF found six boxes full of rockets, anti-tank guided missiles, explosives, and RPGs inside residential buildings.

Demographics

In 2014

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

made up 99.28% of registered voters in Al-Aadaissah. 97.12% of the voters were

Shiite Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

Notable people

* Hussein Amine (born 1985), Lebanese footballer * Hussein Monzer (born 1997), Lebanese footballer

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Aadaysseh
Localiban *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Marjayoun District Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000 Populated places in Marjayoun District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon