Jabal Amel
By 1920, Ain Ebel had a population of 1,500, living in about 300 houses. That year, while delegates from The Shia Conference of El-Hujair were in Damascus swearing allegiance to King Faisal, an act the Maronites of Jabal Amel considered threatening, Mahmoud Bazzi's gang, which "proceeded from brigandage to confronting France and its Christian friends in the south," attacked Ain Ebel on May 5, 1920, pillaging and killing more than 50 people. The people of Ain Ebel defended the town from sunrise to sunset until they ran out of ammunition The town was completely destroyed, and the damage done to the two churches, school and convent, were evidence of sectarian malice. The neighboring villages of Debel and Rmaich were also attacked so after 12 days of plundering and massacres, the French arrived and suppressed all activities in Jabal Amel region The massacres hardened Maronite opinion in favor of Jabal Amel being part of Greater Lebanon, which borders were cemented at the San Remo conference in 1920.