Ainab (), is a town on the western slopes of

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

overlooking

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. It is in the

Aley District Aley () is a district (''qadaa'') in Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, to the south-east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital is Aley. Aley city was previously known as the "bride of the summers" during the 1960 and 1970s, when Aley and neighbor ...

of the

Mount Lebanon Governorate Mount Lebanon Governorate () is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon, of which it is the most populous. Its capital is Baabda. Other notable towns and cities include Aley, Bikfaya, and Beit Mery. This governorate is named after the mount ...

from

, on the road South from Aley.

History

In 1838,

Eli Smith Eli Smith (September 13, 1801 – January 11, 1857) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar. Biography Smith was born in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (née Whitney) Smith. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from A ...

noted the place, called Ainab'', located in ''El-Ghurb el-Fokany'', upper ''el-Ghurb''. The municipal council was established in 1910 and is one of the earliest councils in the Aley district. Ainab was the site of numerous conflicts before and during the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

. In the

1958 Lebanon crisis The 1958 Lebanon crisis was a political crisis in Lebanon caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included an American military intervention, which lasted for around three months until President Camille Chamoun, who had re ...

control of the town was fought over by the Druze forces of

Kamal Jumblatt Kamal Fouad Jumblatt (; 6 December 1917 – 16 March 1977) was a Lebanese politician who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. He was a major ally of the Palestine Liberation Organ ...

and the Lebanese Government. During the Israeli invasion (

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

), the Israeli army intervened in and near Ainab in fighting between the Druze

Progressive Socialist Party The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...

and the Christian

Kataeb Party The Kataeb Party (), officially the Kataeb Party – Lebanese Social Democratic Party ( '), also known as the Phalangist Party, is a right-wing Christian political party in Lebanon founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936. The party and its parami ...

. In March 1989, a schoolyard in the town was hit by an Israeli

air-to-surface missile An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common prop ...

during strikes against a base of the

Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and Maoist organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya (). It is a member ...

(DFLP) in Shemlan. Press reports state that 3 people were killed 22 schoolchildren wounded, or that two DFLP fighters were killed, and a civilian and 23 of 75 primary age schoolchildren wounded by shrapnel. Later that year Israeli jets again attacked in apparent retaliation for rocket attacks on Northern Israel.

History

See also