Aalma ash-Shaab (alternatively spelled Aalma ech Chaab; ) is a municipality in the Tyre District, in Southern Lebanon.
Etymology According to E. H. Palmer, ’Alma means "a coat of mail", while Shảub means "mountain spurs".Palmer (1881), p. 40.
According to Anis Freyha in his dictionary of Lebanese settlement names, עלם ('A-L-M), the root of the name 'Alma, is Semitic and could mean "the hidden" or sexual maturity, the same as in Phoenician, Aramaic and Hebrew.
History Late Ottoman period In 1875, during the late Ottoman period, Victor Guérin found here a village with 350 inhabitants, mostly Greek Catholics and Maronites.Guérin, 1880, p. 136
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A large Christian village, containing about 500 inhabitants. The houses are clean and well built. There are two chapels, and the place seems increasing in size. It is situated on a ridge, with figs, olives, and pomegranates and arable land around. To the east and north the land is covered with brushwood. There is a spring within reach, and about thirty rock-cut cisterns in the village."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 150 -151
French Mandate period During the transition to the French Mandate following World War I, the border regions of South Lebanon experienced significant security instability and inter-communal violence. On May 15, 1920, armed Shia Muslim and tribal irregulars operating in the western border sector launched a major assault on the Maronite Christian village of Aalma ash-Shaab.
The village was subjected to heavy pillaging, property destruction, and the systematic seizure of livestock. Approximately seven local residents were killed while attempting to defend the perimeter. The targeted violence forced the majority of the village's population to abandon their homes and flee toward the coast of Tyre, where they sought humanitarian and military protection from French naval vessels anchored offshore.
Contemporary In 2009, there were 400 members of the Saint-Élie (Elijah) parish of the Melkite Church in the village.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Shia Islamist group Hezbollah joined the conflict by launching rocket and drone attacks on the occupied Shebaa Farms and Israel from areas in southern Lebanon. As a result, at least 800 residents have fled the village out of fear of getting caught in the crossfire, with only about 100 remaining. Israel has conducted retaliatory strikes targeting what they claim is "Hezbollah infrastructure", which according to the deputy mayor destroyed several structures in the village. In March 2026, the brother of the town's parish priest was killed in an Israeli strike, and most of the village's residents were evacuated north.
Demographics In 2014, Christians made up 98.06% of registered voters in Aalma ash-Shaab. 42.62% of the voters were Maronite Catholics and 39.19% were Greek Catholics.
Climate
See also List of extrajudicial killings and political violence in Lebanon
References
Bibliography
External links Aalma ech Chaab, Localiban Survey of Western Palestine, Map 3: IAA, Wikimedia commons