Kfar Kila or Kfarkila (, also Kfarkela, Kafarkela) is a municipality in Southern Lebanon. The majority of its population are Shia Muslims.
Etymology The name Kafarkila means "the village of the pasturage".Palmer, 1881, p. 23
History Al-Maqdisi (c. 945/946 – 991) noted that Kafr Kila (called Kafar Kila) was "A place lying a day's march from Tabariyyah".Le Strange, 1890, p. 470
Ottoman era In the 1596 tax records, it was named as a village, Kafr Kuk, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin, part of Safad Sanjak, with a population of 31 households and 2 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, goats, beehives and winter pastures; a total of 4,700 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 184Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
In 1838, Eli Smith noted Kafr Kila's population as Metawileh.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 137
In 1875 Victor Guérin visited and noted that the village had about 1,000 Metawileh inhabitants.Guérin, 1880, p. 277 He further noted: "The mosque and several of the houses are built of old materials. The spring is partly ancient."Guérin, 1880, pp. 277-278; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 117
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "a village, built of stone and mud, containing about 150 Moslems, situated on sloping ground, with figs, olives, and arable land around. A good spring near."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 87-88
Modern era The total population of the village is about 14,500. The occupants' number increases dramatically during summer. Its altitude is around 700 m from sea level.
Many developments are currently taking place due to the efforts and the determination of the municipality side by side with the people in order to mitigate the problems that accumulated over the years from central government indifference, civil war, occupation and border wars.
Following the 1982 Israeli invasion Kafr Kila became part of the Israeli security zone. On 11 September 1989 three IDF soldiers were wounded in an ambush in Kafr Kila. The Lebanese Communist Party claimed responsibility. Two of the attackers were killed.Middle East International No 359, 22 September 1989, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Fourteen days in brief p.15
During the Israel–Hezbollah conflict, much of the village's population was displaced. Israeli artillery barrages also destroyed many of the buildings. During the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the IDF claimed it has destroyed 158 Hezbollah targets in the preceding months in Kfar Kila, including 28 lookout posts and an array of weapons. Back on October 25th almost the entire southern part of the village had been destroyed during the 2024 Kfar Kila clashes.
During the 2026 Lebanon War Israeli officials stated that 90% of the town had been completely destroyed. Despite the destruction, reports suggest some civilians plan to come back following the end of the war, even though such return is not guaranteed following Israeli reports stating that those displaced may never come back.
Demographics As of 2010, the village had 7,000 year round residents and its population rose to 9,000 during the summer months. At least 2,500 villagers had been displaced to other parts of Lebanon by the 2006 Lebanon War and another 500 had migrated abroad.
In 2014 Muslims made up 99.56% of registered voters in Kfar Kila. 99.41% of the voters were Shiite Muslims. https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/النبطية/مرجعيون/كفركلا/المذاهب/
In April 2026 the town was reported to be roughly fully depopulated after almost the entirety of it was destroyed.
References
Bibliography
External links Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2: IAA, Wikimedia commons Kfar Kila, Localiban www.kafarkila.net