Nélida Nassar   06.20.2026

My compatriot Mona Khalil’s story is intrinsically linked to the southern Lebanon beach in Al Mansouri. A pristine gorgeous land and sea between earth and heaven protected for decades by this wonderful lady, an inspirational dynamo who dedicated her life to saving the sea turtles. An activist and an ecologist before the hour, she moved into her childhood home built by her father, naming it the Orange House. There she created an ecosystem for hatching the sea turtles protecting them during their first steps into life before they moved on to the sea and across the oceans. A great hostess, she opened her home to so many of us, family, friends, visitors and strangers alike.

Since the early 2000s, she had dedicated herself and became the guardian of a rare coastline of southern Lebanon one of the last nesting grounds for sea turtles whose diverse fauna and flora includes loggerhead and green turtles threatened with extinction. She protected their nests, their hatchlings, the dunes, and the fragile relationship between the inhabitants, the sea, and biodiversity. In a country often consumed by political, financial, and military crises, her struggle served as a reminder of another urgent matter: saving what remains of life.

Mona was savagely hit by an IOF bomb. They could not tolerate her courage and steadfastness. Jealously guarding the Al Mansouri beach, in her small orange home, alongside the baby turtles whose first sight in this life was her face, before they ever crawled on the golden sands or gazed upon the azure of the sea. Struggling between life and death for 15 days, yesterday she left us to join this Mediterranean sea she so loved and protected.

Mona you are gone, but your legacy of love and generosity will live on. You have touched and inspired in each Lebanese young and old a deep affection for nature, ecology, ecotourism and a profound belief in the necessity of protecting our shores and land. Each green sea turtle carries a piece of your memory, swimming away from our shores while whispering your story from generation to generation. The story of a woman fairy who dedicated her life to protecting life. You will live on as your memory is eternal. Rest in peace, beautiful, noble soul you are in the hands of the sea embraced by its loving, protective waves!