Haret Hreik () is a mixed

Shia 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 ...

and

Maronite Christian Lebanese Maronite Christians (; ) refers to Lebanese people who are members of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, the largest Christian body in the country. The Lebanese Maronite population is concentrated mainly in Mount Lebanon and East Beir ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, in the

Dahieh Dahieh (, ) is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It has a minority of Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is a residential and commerc ...

suburbs, south of

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 ...

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 part of the

Baabda District Baabda District (, transliteration: ''Qada' Baabda''), sometimes spelled ''B'abda'', is a district (''qadaa'') of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, to the south and east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The region is also popularly known as "Sou ...

. Once an agricultural and Christian village, Haret Hreik lost its rural and Christian identity due to the wave of

Muslim refugees from

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost distr ...

who settled in the town and made it another urban neighborhood of Dahieh. Haret Hreik is located northeast of the

Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport (, , previously known as Beirut International Airport) () is the only operational commercial airport in Lebanon. It is located in the Dahieh, Southern Suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, from the Beirut Cen ...

and north of the towns of Laylake and

Bourj el-Barajneh Bourj el-Barajneh () is a municipality located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in Lebanon. The municipality lies between Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport and the town of Haret Hreik. In the June 7, 2009 parliamentary election i ...

, west of

Hadath Al-Ḥadath al-Ḥamrā' (Arabic for "Hadath the Red") or Adata () was a town and fortress near the Taurus Mountains (modern southeastern Turkey), which played an important role in the Byzantine–Arab Wars. Location The town was located at c ...

and south of

Chyah Shiyyah or Chiyah () is a suburb located south of the Lebanese capital of Beirut and is part of Greater Beirut. Location Shiyyah is located in the southwest suburbs of the capital Beirut, bordered by Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry, Hadath, Hazmiyeh, F ...

. The district is the de-facto epicenter of the

group

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 ...

. The district was heavily damaged in the July 2006 Hezbollah War by the Israeli airforce that destroyed 640 kilometres (400 miles) of roads, 73 bridges, and 31 other targets such as sea ports, water and sewage treatment plants, electrical facilities, 25 fuel stations, 900 commercial structures, up to 350 schools and two hospitals, and 130,000 residences. On 3 September 1985, during the War of the Camps, gunmen from the

Amal militia The Lebanese Resistance Regiments (, or AMAL), also designated Lebanese Resistance Battalions, Lebanese Resistance Detachments, Lebanese Resistance Legions and Battalions de la Resistance Libanaise (BRL), but simply known by its Arabic acronym ...

killed thirteen Palestinian civilians in Haret Hreik. In July 2024, Israeli military announced that they had targeted and killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike launched by Israeli fighter jets on a building in the southern suburb of Beirut.

2006 Lebanon War

The area was largely destroyed during the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

. It was estimated that close to 200 buildings were destroyed in the town during the first week of Israel's attack on Lebanon in 2006, with a total of more than 700 structures destroyed or damaged by the end of the war and thousands of civilians injured or dead. The town has since undergone significant reconstruction, replacing destroyed and damaged 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 51.52% and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

made up 48.19% of registered voters in Haret Hreik. 43.47% of the voters were Shiite Muslims, 40.96% were Maronite Catholics, 8.03% were

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

Culture and education

Haret Hreik houses Umam Documentation & Research, an organization that archives material related to Lebanon's history. Umam also runs The Hangar, a contemporary arts space featuring events and exhibitions. The town also hosts three main libraries. In addition, two hospitals operate in the area ( Sahel General Hospital and Bahman hospital), providing services to residents. The area hosts cultural activities, including shopping carnivals, art contests and talks.

Sport

Shabab Al Sahel FC Shabab Al Sahel Football Club (), known as Shabab Sahel or simply Sahel, is a football club based in Haret Hreik, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded in 1966, Shabab Al Sahel won one Lebanese FA Cup, one Lebanese Eli ...

, a football club playing in the , is based in Haret Hreik.

Notable people

* Michel Aoun (born 1933), former President of Lebanon *

Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (; 16 November 1935 – 4 July 2010) was a prominent Lebanese- Iraqi Twelver Shia cleric. Born in Najaf, Iraq, Fadlallah studied Islam in Najaf before moving to Lebanon in 1952. In the following de ...

(1935–2010), spiritual mentor of Hezbollah * Lokman Slim (1962–2021), publisher *

Samira Awad Samira Mohamad Awad (; born 30 June 2000) is a Lebanese footballer who plays as a winger. Club career Awad joined Safa in 2019; she scored 13 goals and made 11 assists in 14 games in the 2019–20 season. International career On 18 Jul ...

(born 2000), footballer * Hasan Srour (born 2001), footballer

References

External links

Haret Hreik
localiban
Google map of Hurat Hurayk neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon
— Satellite photograph of the Haret Hreik neighborhood [

district],

, ''before'' the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

High resolution DigitalGlobe photograph of Hurat Hurayk neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon
— Satellite photograph of the Haret Hreik neighborhood [