Mona Kahlil, Defender of Sea Turtles, Killed in an Israel Strike in Lebanon

Mona Kahlil, the cherished 76-year-old Lebanese marine ecologist renowned for her unwavering dedication to protecting endangered sea turtles, succumbed to her injuries on Friday, June 19, after an Israeli strike hit her home at Mansouri beach near Tyre on June 4. Her death marks a profound loss for the environmental community and casts a stark spotlight on the devastating civilian toll of the escalating conflict in Southern Lebanon. Kahlil, affectionately known as the 'guardian of the turtles,' had for over 25 years transformed her family home into the Orange House Project, an ecotourism guesthouse and vital sanctuary for loggerhead and green sea turtles nesting along Lebanon southern coast. Her passing comes amidst intensified cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, despite recent efforts to broker a ceasefire, which saw a fragile truce renewed on June 19. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) maintains Kahlil was not a target and denies knowledge of the specific strike that injured her, yet multiple reports link her death directly to Israeli operations in the region. As activists and her family mourn her loss, appeals are mounting for accountability and the preservation of her life's work at Mansouri beach, a critical nesting site now vulnerable to further disruption. The incident underscores the perilous environment for humanitarian and conservation efforts in conflict zones, raising urgent questions about civilian protection and the long-term ecological consequences as regional tensions continue to simmer despite ongoing diplomatic negotiations.