# Houla, Lebanon

Houla (Arabic: حولا) is a municipality in Southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, located on the southern side of the Litani river.
The village maintains its cultural traditions to the present day, and holds village festivals.
Houla, historically identified with Ulay Rabta, a place from rabbinic texts. The area's antiquity is shown by discoveries of lintels and an olive-press. In the Ottoman era, Hula was a village inhabited by Shiites, described in 1881 as having stone buildings, cisterns, and a central mosque amidst olive and vineyards. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war two officers from the IDF carried out the Hula massacre in the village, killing over 80 civilians of ages 15–60. Throughout subsequent conflicts, Hula suffered from military engagements and airstrikes.

## History

Houla is identified with Ulay Rabta (Hebrew: אולי רבתה), a place referenced in the Baraita on the "Boundaries of the Land of Israel" as part of the delineation of the northwestern border of Jewish resettlement following the return from Babylonian exile. Scholarly analysis suggests that this text likely describes a later era, possibly the Hasmonean or Herodian periods, during the 2nd or 1st century BCE.
The Survey of Western Palestine (1881) mentions several ancient lintels and one olive-press having been found at Hula.

### Ottoman period

In 1875 Victor Guérin explores the geographical location of Hula and other Southern villages of Lebanon bordering Palestine, and found that Hula had 300 Shia Muslim inhabitants.
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A village, built of stone, containing about 500 Metawileh, one of the most prominent objects in which is a Sheikh's tomb. It is situated on the hill-top, and is surrounded by olives, vines, and arable land. There are several cisterns, two birkets (one rock-cut), and a spring." It also mentions that a small central mosque is situated on top of one of the hills in the village.

### Modern era

On October 24, 1948, the city fell under Israeli occupation without resistance, children and women were expelled, and men aging from 15 to 60 were gathered in a house. On 1 November, the house was blown up with the prisoners still inside. This incident is known as the Hula massacre.
Following the 1982 invasion Hula became part of the Israeli Security Zone.
On 6 April 1992 an Israeli Army convoy was ambushed in Hula. Two soldiers were killed and 5 wounded. Islamic Jihad Organization, based in Baalbek, claimed responsibility. The target had been Major-General Yitzhak Mordechai, head of Israel's Northern Command. But he had left the convoy earlier. Three of the attackers were killed.
During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, on July 15, two young women were killed by an Israeli airstrike at the village. On August 7, 2006, an Israeli airstrike on Hula killed another civilian.
During the 2023 Israel–Lebanon border clashes, the IDF conducted a drone strike that destroyed a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile squad in Houla after they launched a missile against the nearby Israeli community of Margaliot.
On 2 June 2024, two shepherds were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the village.

## Demographics

In 2014 Muslims made up 99.48% of registered voters in Houla. 98.74% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.