During the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the village had an Israeli military detention camp nearby for suspected Palestinian civilians and militiamen. Prisoners were categorized and either moved to more secure facilities or released. In August 1983, after several escape tunnels were discovered, its 5,000 inmates were moved. An Israel Army reservist who had served at Ansar was quoted in the newspaper "Maariv" as saying that the camp was sitting on top of a tunnel system.