Israeli Strike Kills Lebanese Sea Turtle Conservationist Mona Khalil

Mona Khalil, a 76-year-old Lebanese environmental conservationist, was mortally wounded in an Israeli airstrike on June 4 that targeted the Orange House, her renowned sea turtle conservation hub located in al-Mansouri, Tyre province in southern Lebanon. Khalil, who held Dutch and Lebanese citizenship and was born in Nigeria in 1949, succumbed to severe burns and other injuries sustained in the attack. Her Ethiopian assistant was also wounded in the strike.

Khalil co-founded the Orange House Project in 1999 within what had once been her grandmother's home, dedicating more than 25 years to protecting endangered sea turtles and their nesting habitats along Lebanon's southern coast. The facility served as both a conservation sanctuary and ecotourism site, where Khalil and volunteers worked each nesting season to shield sea turtles, their eggs, and hatchlings from predators and human threats. Beyond direct wildlife protection, she campaigned against beach privatization, habitat destruction, dynamite fishing, and other environmental degradation. Green Southerners, a Lebanese environmental organization, described her as "one of Lebanon's most respected voices for marine conservation and biodiversity protection" whose work inspired generations to value their natural heritage.

The Israeli Defense Forces claimed Khalil "was not a target," stating there was "no known IDF strike in which she was injured," though acknowledging that "strikes were conducted in the area after the IDF issued evacuation warnings." Critics, including Lebanese journalist and professor Marwa Osman, disputed this account, emphasizing that the Orange House was widely recognized as an environmental symbol and clearly not a military installation, command center, or battlefield position. Hisham Younes, co-founder of Green Southerners, told the BBC that Khalil "used to talk about the beach like it was a person" and possessed deep spiritual commitment to conservation.

Khalil's death occurred within a broader context of escalating Israeli military operations in Lebanon. According to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health, Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,106 people—including 383 women, 251 children, and 135 medical workers—and wounded 12,153 others since March 2, with over 1 million Lebanese forcibly displaced. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir recently called for forces to "go berserk" and "obliterate" Lebanon, statements widely viewed as attempts to undermine ongoing peace negotiations.

Despite escalating conflict, Khalil had chosen to remain at the Orange House. Fadia Joumaa, a Lebanese journalist and environmentalist, recounted Khalil's decision to stay, quoting her as saying: "No one should tell me to leave. I don't want to leave... I'm a civilian. I don't have a weapon. I'll lock myself inside my home. This is my life." Her death has been interpreted by observers as symbolic of the conflict's human cost, with one noting that "even those whose only weapon is compassion, whose only mission is preservation, are not spared."