The Salha massacre, which occurred in the autumn of 1948, is considered one of the most horrific bloody episodes in the early record of the Israeli occupation. This village is located at a sensitive geographical and historical intersection between Lebanon and Palestine. While Palestinian sources classify it within the Safed district, Lebanese documents confirm that it is one of the seven villages that were detached from Lebanese territory and administratively annexed to Palestine during the British and French Mandate periods.
On October 30, 1948, forces of the Seventh Brigade of the Haganah gangs, known as 'Sheva', stormed the village as part of what was called 'Operation Hiram'. This operation aimed to establish control over the Upper Galilee region and secure the northern borders through a scorched-earth policy and forced displacement of the indigenous population.
Historical estimates indicate that the number of victims of the massacre ranged between 94 and 105 martyrs, most of whom fell in mass field executions. The tragedy began when the attacking forces ordered the villagers to gather in the mosque square under the pretext of surrendering weapons, after which a random shooting spree began, targeting unarmed civilians indiscriminately.
Survivors' testimonies recount that the Arab Liberation Army, formed to support the Palestinians, had withdrawn from the area before the arrival of Israeli forces, leaving the residents in direct confrontation with the killing machine. The attackers did not stop at shooting; they later blew up the mosque over the bodies of the martyrs and demolished homes over the heads of the remaining residents.
Historically, the residents of Salha were administratively and socially linked to the Lebanese city of Tyre, where they were registered in the 1921 census within the old population records. This connection made their tragedy a deep Lebanese wound, as some of them regained Lebanese citizenship in the 1960s, while others continued to be treated as refugees in their homeland.
After emptying the village of its inhabitants and turning it into rubble, the occupation quickly erased its geographical features by establishing agricultural and military settlements on its ruins. In 1949, the settlement of 'Yir'on' was founded, followed by the settlement of 'Avivim' in the late 1950s, to entrench a new settlement reality that obliterates the Arab identity of the place.
The Salha massacre was not an isolated incident but came as part of a series of massacres that targeted villages in Galilee and southern Lebanon during that era. Lebanese military sources documented that the Seven Villages, including Salha, Al-Malikiyah, and Hunin, were victims of international agreements that drew borders with blood and forced displacement.
Survivors of the massacre carried the memory of the killing with them to refugee camps and displacement areas in southern Lebanon, where they named neighborhoods in Tyre and Burj al-Shamali after their village. These new residential communities have become a reservoir of collective memory passed down from generation to generation, affirming the right of return that does not lapse with time.
According to the Encyclopedia of Palestinian Villages, Salha had about 1,300 inhabitants before the Nakba, and they primarily relied on agriculture and livestock farming. With the massacre, this stable life turned into a long journey of diaspora that began under the whizzing of bullets and mortar shells that targeted safe homes.
During 'Operation Hiram', Israeli violence did not spare women, children, and the elderly, as the killings were accompanied by widespread looting of property and livestock. The policy adopted aimed to terrorize neighboring villages and push their residents to flee en masse, which was partially achieved through these horrific massacres that remained without international accountability.
In Lebanese memory, Salha remains a symbol of the 'severed' villages whose people paid the price of colonial tug-of-war between Britain and France. Despite subsequent naturalization decrees in Lebanon, many residents of these villages still demand full recognition of their historical and legal rights as original landowners.
The current scene at the village site shows a sharp contrast between the ruins of old houses and the modern settlement buildings erected over them. Despite attempts to change names and landmarks, the olive and cactus trees that still stand bear witness to the identity of the land watered with the blood of more than a hundred martyrs in one night.
These documentary reports are an urgent necessity to reclaim the historical narrative from attempts at obliteration and distortion practiced by the occupation. The Salha massacre is not just a number in the record of victims; it is a story of resilience and memory resisting erasure, connecting the Nakba of Palestine with the suffering of Lebanese border villages.
In conclusion, Salha remains a living witness to the policy of replacement adopted by the Zionist gangs since 1948, a policy that targeted both land and people. Recalling these bloody episodes aims to emphasize that crimes against humanity do not lapse with the passage of time, and that memory is the first line of defense for usurped rights.
The attackers called out to the residents and ordered them to go to the mosque square, before opening fire on them in cold blood, turning the place into a mass grave.
شارك برأيك
Salha Massacre 1948: The Bleeding Wound of the Nakba Between Lebanese and Palestinian Memory