| Majdal Selem | |
| Native Name: | Arabic: مجدل سلم |
| Native Name Lang: | ara |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | Lebanon |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Map showing the location of Majdal Selem within Lebanon |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Lebanon |
| Coordinates: | 33.2217°N 35.4644°W |
| Grid Position: | 193/291 PAL |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nabatieh Governorate |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Marjayoun District |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 12.05 |
| Elevation M: | 560 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | EET |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +3 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Area Code Type: | Dialing code |
| Area Code: | +961 |
Majdal Selem (ar|مجدل سلم) is a municipality in the Marjayoun District in Southern Lebanon.
According to E. H. Palmer, the name Mejdel Islim means Islim's watch-tower, p.n.[2]
Majdal Selem means Fortress of Peace, or Peace Fortress.
In 1596, it was named as a village, Majdal Salim, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the Liwa Safad, with a population of 51 households and 8 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25 % on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, fruit trees, vegetable and fruit garden, orchard, goats, beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 9,110 akçe.[3] [4]
In 1875, Victor Guérin found that the village had about 300 Metawileh inhabitants.[5] He further noted: "A mosque, now abandoned and falling into ruins, has succeeded here a Byzantine church, the materials of which have been used in building it. Over one of the windows is a stone (apparently once the lintel) with an old Greek inscription, the characters of which are too much defaced to be read. A monolithic column lies beside it, half buried in the ground, surmounted by a capital sculptured in form of open basket work."[6]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as a "large village, built of stone, of ancient appearance, containing about 500 [..] Metawileh [..]. Situated on table land, surrounded by olives and arable land. Water supply from a large masonry birket and many cisterns."[7] They further noted: "Village containing several good lintels and remains of ruins; an ancient road leads from the village to the Birkeh."[8]
On 15 February 1993, the village was attacked by Israeli helicopter gunships following an attack on SLA positions earlier in the day.[9] During the 1996 Israeli seventeen day bombardment of south Lebanon the Nepalese UNIFIL position in Majdal Selem was hit by eight shells and extensively damaged.[10]
On 5 December 1997, three civilians were killed by a roadside bomb. The bomb was believed to have been planted by an Israeli commando special unit. Including this event forty-three civilians had been killed in southern Lebanon in 1997.[11]
On 8 January 2024, Israeli forces killed Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy commander of Hezbollah's Redwan Force, in an airstrike against his vehicle in Majdal Selem.[12]
In 2014 Muslims made up 99.61% of registered voters in Majdal Selem. 98.37% of the voters were Shiite Muslims. [13]
. Victor Guérin. Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. 3: Galilee, pt. 2. 1880. L'Imprimerie Nationale. Paris. French.
. Edward Henry Palmer. 1881. The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
. Harold Rhode . 1979 . Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century . . 2017-12-05 . 2016-10-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010135324/http://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century . dead .
