Muhaibib
Village in southern Lebanon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Muhaibib (Arabic: محيبيب), also spelled Mhaibib, is a municipality in the Marjayoun District in southern Lebanon.
Muhaibib
محيبيب | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
  Muhaibib Location within Lebanon | |
| Coordinates: 33°09′17″N 35°30′20″E | |
| Grid position | 197/284 PAL |
| Country |  Lebanon |
| Governorate | Nabatieh Governorate |
| District | Marjayoun District |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Dialing code | +961 |
Muhaibib holds a shrine to Benjamin, who Islam considers a prophet, which attracts pilgrims and visitors.[1] In October 2024, Israeli forces demolished and bombed the entire village including the shrine.[2][3]
Etymology
E. H. Palmer wrote that the name Neby Muheibîb meant "the prophet Muheibîb", "beloved".[4]
History
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Neby Muheibib as: "a small village [a]round the stone Neby, containing about seventy Moslems, situated on top of ridge, with olives and arable land; there are two cisterns in the village."[5]
During the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) released footage of themselves destroying nearly the entirety of Muhaibib.[6][7] The New York Times connected a statement in which the IDF claimed that they had 'dismantled a tunnel network used by Hezbollah's elite Redwan Forces' to the destruction of the village.[6] Al Jazeera published footage of Israeli soldiers they claimed were celebrating the destruction of the village.[8]
The spokesperson for the US Department of State, Matthew Miller, said that "we do not want to see entire villages destroyed", nor "civilian homes".[9] He claimed that there was potential for Hezbollah presence inside civilian homes.[6] He then said: "I don't know what was in those buildings, I don't know what was potentially underneath those buildings."[10]
Demographics
In 2014 Muslims made up 99.55% of registered voters in Muhaibib. 97.91% of the voters were Shiite Muslims. [11]