Rmaish (, ) is the southernmost municipality of Lebanon, located in the district of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, south of Ain Ebel, 1–2 km (0.6–1.2 miles) from the Lebanese-Israeli border, covering an area of .
Etymology Due to the Syriac heritage of the village, the most likely meaning of its name comes from the Syriac root ramsha / ramshaya (ܪܡܫܐ), which refers to “night” or “sunset.” Ramsha is also the Syriac term for the evening liturgy (vespers), potentially suggesting an “evening town” or a place that is quiet at sunset. E. H. Palmer offered a more literal, but less likely, reading from classical Arabic, translating it as "scanty herbage"Palmer, 1881, p. 93 but this interpretation is implausible, given the evident fertility of the land, which stands in clear contradiction to such a description.
The name appears in several variant spellings, including Rmaich, Rmaych, Rmaysh, Rmeich, and Rmeish.
History
Rmaish is a historic town with Roman and Crusader ruins.
In 1299, Rmaish was directly under Mamluk rule.
Ottoman period Rmaish was under Ottoman rule until 1920. The town was involved in many wars and battles through the history. The most important ones are:
In 1797, the viceroy of Acre Jazzar Pasha demolished and destroyed the village including the only church that was there. His reasons for that were that Rmaish supported Prince Bashir El Chahabi against him, they helped Napoleon in his battle against Acre and that he was afraid, that Rmaish being the only Christian village in the area, might encourage other Christian villages to rebel against him. Ahmad Basha burned down the church including all the records that were kept inside. The people of Rmaish refused to go back to their village until Ahmad Basha died in 1804 when they went back and rebuilt their church and village. In 1824, the leader of Rmaish Youssef Daher El Choufani led the village to a victory over the viceroy of Acre, Abdallah El Darnadli. In 1829, Rmaish supported Prince Bashir El Chahabi in his battle against Sanour. Rmaish was hit by an earthquake in January 1837, which devastated the South all the way to Safad and Tiberias.Khalaf, Samir. Protestant Missionaries in the Levant: Ungodly Puritans, 1820-1860, Routledge; 1 edition (July 24, 2012), page 211 William McClure Thomson traveled in the region three weeks afterwards, and described how Rumaish was mostly destroyed, with thirty deaths occurring as people were crushed in their homes. Many more would have suffered the same had they not been at evening prayers at the church there, which was a small building that was not seriously damaged.Thomson, 1859, p. 429Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 209 In 1838; the population of Rmaish was described as being Greek Orthodox Christians and In 1839, Rmaish fought side by side with the Shiite of the neighbouring villages against the Egyptian army which ended by the withdrawal of the Egyptian army after suffering heavy losses. In 1840, Daher El Choufani led Rmaish in another battle against the Egyptian army.
When the Ottoman Empire entered the war, they forced everyone between 18 and 60 years to fight in the Turkish army. People from Rmeish were forced to fight in Bulgaria, Istanbul and the Suez Canal in Egypt. Between 20 and 30 never came back from the war and no one knew anything about them till today.
In 1875 Victor Guérin found Rmaish to be inhabited by 500 Maronites, all impoverished. He observed that although the village appears to be relatively new—and according to its elders, it hasn't reached its hundred-year and five mark yet—it is located on the site of an earlier settlement.Guérin, 1880, pp. 416-417
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Rumeish: "A stone and mud village, containing about 500 Christians; there is a Christian church; it is situated in the plain, with two large birkets and cisterns, surrounded by arable land and having some vineyards."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 202
Rmaish suffered from many natural disasters, the most significant one was the earthquake of 1837 when an earthquake hit the village killing 35. The rest of the people were praying in the church that day and therefore were protected by the strong building of the church. Rmeich was hit by few other earthquakes in 1887, 1888 and 1927 which caused the destruction of many houses without any casualties.
At the start of the 20th century, Rmaish saw emigration on a large scale to South America, especially to Argentina and Brazil, due to the high taxes imposed by the Ottoman Empire. It is believed that around 100 left to Argentina between 1905 and 1914.
French Mandate A petition was sent by all villages in south Lebanon to the Reconciliation Conference in Paris in 1919 asking for Rmaish and other villages to be included within Lebanon. The following is the petition:
"We call on the agreement and unanimity we, the residents of Tyre district of Shiites and Christians of forty thousands to be included in the State of Greater Lebanon for the following reasons: First, the Shiites of us are people form Sidon, Tyre, Marjayoun, El Rihan, Eklim El Kharoub and Hermel who truly want to join their nation. Second, Christians of us are of Lebanese origin and their ancestors came from the north to south. To the day they are relatives and want to join them."
Massacre of 1920 After the Shia Conference of El-Hujair rejected Greater Lebanon and pledged allegiance to King Faisal, an act the Maronites of Jabal Amel perceived as a threat, a Shia gang led by Mahmoud Bazzi emerged, moving from brigandage to direct confrontation with French forces and the Christian their allies in the south, attacked Ain Ebel on 5 May 1920, pillaging and killing more than 50 people. It appears that the gangs responded to a call for jihad. After the attackers abandoned themselves in the violence, massacring children in the arms of their parents before killing them, raping young women and then killing them, and burning people who were still alive, they moved to the other Christian villages, Debel and Rmaish, killing and pillaging, so after 12 days of plundering and massacres,Villeneuve de, Armand, Catholic Missions: Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Volume 1, "A Poor Mission of Syria," Society of the Propagation of the Faith, NY, MY 1924, page 91. the French arrived and suppressed all activities in Jabal Amil region. While awaiting their return to the village, a soldier serving with English forces reportedly urged the villagers to sell their properties to Zionist buyers, citing the lack of any guarantee of return; however, the villagers unanimously refused. This incident illustrates the broader pressures faced by Christian communities in the Tyre district to relinquish their land and emigrate. The massacres hardened Maronite opinion in favor of Jabal Amil being part of Greater Lebanon, which borders were cemented at the San Remo conference in 1920.
Independence period The Arab Liberation Army’s Second Yarmouk Battalion, numbering just over 300 troops, crossed from Rmaich on January 9–10, 1948, and advanced toward Tarshiha in the Galilee.
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Rmaish received hundreds of Palestinian refugees, including from the village of Sha'ab. By late October and early November of the same year, refugees from other Palestinian villages, such as Al-Mansura and Kfar Bir'im sought refuge in Rmaish and Ain Ebel.
In mid-July 1976, Israel launched the Good Fence policy, opening boarder gates in Rmaish and Kfar Kila the following month. The Palestine Liberation Organization largely overlooked Israel’s shift to overt intervention in South Lebanon, remaining indifferent to its activities while focusing instead on political influence and rivalries over controlling food and aid distribution, ultimately imposing a total blockade on Rmaish, Debel, and Ain Ebel that forced residents to rely on the Good Fence policy for essential supplies.
In 1985, the residents of east Sidon were deported toward the south. 120 families were deported to Rmaish. Half of these families were to leave Rmaish within the next 2 months and the others stayed and lived in Rmeish until this day.
2006 Hezbollah-Israel war
Rmaish, like other villages lining Lebanon's southern border, such as Ain Ebel, Debel, Qaouzah, and Yaroun, was caught in the crossfire during the 2006 Lebanon War between Lebanon and Israel.Totten, Michael J. The Road to Fatima Gate: The Beirut Spring, the Rise of Hezbollah, and the Iranian War Against Israel, Encounter Books, New York, 2011, page 195 During the conflict, the village witnessed ferocious battles with missiles destroying many houses and orchards and leaving the townspeople besieged and without bread for three weeks.
Community opposition to Hezbollah activities In 2022, structures built by Hezbollah near Rmaish, encroaching on properties owned by the Ameel, Alam, and Hajj families, were reported. This development angered local residents, municipal authorities, and religious leaders, leading to pressure from Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, who accused Hezbollah of encroachment. As a result, Hezbollah agreed to dismantle the structures, which were also a violation of UNSC Resolution 1701.
2023 Hezbollah-Israel war
During the Gaza war, Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel from civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including Rmeich. After the start of the fighting, when hundreds of thousands of Lebanese fled their homes in other villages due to the clashes, residents of Rmaish largely remained steadfast despite being surrounded by ongoing fire. Hezbollah's efforts to establish military infrastructure in Rmaish led again to clashes with local residents, causing fear and displacement among the predominantly Christian population. Many women and children fled, leaving behind men who faced insecurity and potential looting. The Lebanese government was criticized for allowing Hezbollah to operate with impunity, thereby endangering local communities and exacerbating regional instability.
In March 2024, residents confronted Hezbollah members who attempted to install a rocket launcher in the town center. Later, during the Gaza war, Hezbollah's militant activities in Rmaish led to fear, displacement, and clashes with residents, and a confrontation over a rocket launcher installation in the town center.
Like most of the Christian population of South Lebanon, Rmeish residents are opposed to Hezbollah's presence in the area.
2026 Hezbollah-Israel war
On March 2, 2026, Rmaish was once again caught in the midst of a regional war when Hezbollah, the Iranian-allied proxy in Lebanon, launched strikes on Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The residents of the village, along with those of Ain Ebel and Debel, defied Israeli evacuation and displacement orders, as they had done in 2024.
Heavy Israeli strikes against Hezbollah positions around Rmaish, Ain Ebel, and Debel severely restricted movement in the area, with travel between the villages requiring coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces or the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), although both the UN and Lebanese officials were often unable to secure individual civilian movements without an international mechanism involving the United States, France, and Israel.
On 31 March 2026, the Lebanese Army withdrew amid advancing Israeli forces, one week before residents celebrated Easter under siege.
On April 22, a wounded Hezbollah militant fled to Rmeish and was treated by emergency responders in the village, while Israeli forces repeatedly demanded he be handed over, threatening to evacuate the village when officials in Rmeish refused to hand over the young man. After continuous threats and demands, and after the IDF spoke directly to him, the injured man agreed to surrender to spare the village and left on foot toward a designated location, ultimately surrendering to the Israeli army.