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Nabatieh (, ', Syriac language: ܐܠܢܒܛܝܥ), or Nabatîyé''' (), is a city of the Nabatieh Governorate, in southern Lebanon.
Alternatively, this form of the word may have been in the genitive case as well due to the presence of a definite article. In addition, the feminization may have been used for noun agreement, therefore the city may have been referred to in some variation by its early inhabitants as القرية النبطية, "the village of the Nabataeans” or possibly some other toponym using the feminine form. Due to the city’s possible origins as a trading outpost (explained below), it could have also been السوق النبطية "the market of the Nabateans”, or some other variant which would have gradually been reduced to simply النبطية.
The Nabatean Kingdom (3rd century BC – 106 AD) extended its greatest height between 85-71 BC in which they controlled Damascus. Between this period and the Roman Empire, there have been instances of Nabatean inscriptions and coinage in Sidon, which would have been the closest major port to Nabatieh. Therefore, being in the hinterland and at the foothills of the Mount Lebanon between Sidon and Damascus, the city may have been a trading stop or station for the Nabateans, thereby owing its name to them. One modern tradition that may have carried over from this ancient foundation is the weekly souk (souq el-tanen) which takes place every Monday and merchants from surrounding villages come to sell their goods.
In 1875, Victor Guérin found Nabatieh et-Tahta ("The lower Nabatieh") to have 1,500 Metuali inhabitants, in addition to 300 Christians; mostly Greek Orthodox, but also some .Guérin, 1880, p. 520
Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, in October 1983 an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) convoy drove into Nabatieh at the height of the Ashura celebrations. In the ensuing confrontation a jeep was overturned and set on fire. The soldiers responded with rifle fire and grenades and one person was killed and several wounded. This incident, as well as the assassination of Sheikh Ragheb Harb, is seen as the turning point in the Shia community’s relationship with the occupying Israelis.Hirst, David (2010) Beware of Small States. Lebanon, battleground of the Middle East. Faber and Faber. pp.200-201
After Israel’s withdrawal in 1985 Nabatieh was on the edge of the so-called security zone.
On 24 August 1989 an IAF air strike on Ain Abu Suwar near Nabatieh killed nine people. Reports stated that the dead were refugees from the fighting in Beirut.Middle East International No 358, 8 September 1989, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters; Fourteen days in brief p.14 In early December the same year Nabatieh was shelled for three days by the South Lebanon Army. Four people were killed and eighteen wounded.Middle East International No 365, 15 December 1989; Fourteen days in brief p.14 (started 4 December)
On 17 May 1991 two bombs exploded in Nabatieh killing four people including a member of the South Lebanon Army. A statement from the Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility.Journal of Palestine Studies Volume XXI, Number 1, Autumn 1991, University of California Press. p.187 Chronology quoting New York Times 5/18, 5/19 Five months later the area around Nabatieh was subjected to eight days of shelling by the South Lebanon Army and the Israeli Army. The bombardment culminated on 1 November with a series of IAF airstrikes which destroyed two bridges between Nabatieh and Iqlim al Tuffah. The Israeli offensive coincided with the start of the Madrid Peace Conference.Middle East International No 412, 8 November 1991; Jim Muir pp.7-8
During Operation Accountability, 25–31 July 1993, Nabatieh was extensively damaged by Israel artillery fire and airstrikes. Fifty-five towns and villages were heavily damaged during the offensive.Middle East International No 456, 6 August 1993; Jim Muir pp.3-4
The IDF shelled Nabatieh again on 21 March 1994; during the bombardment a school was hit killing a twelve year old girl and wounding twenty-two others. Earlier in the day Hezbollah had killed two Israeli soldiers and three SLA militiamen.Middle East International No 473, 15 April 1994; March chronology p.15 Just over four months later, 4 August, the Israeli Air Force launched three airstrikes in the Nabatieh area which killed eight civilians and wounded eighteen.Middle East International No 484, 23 September 1994; August chronology p.14 On 20 October Israeli shelling killed five civilians in Nabatieh. The day before the SLA had killed two civilians after their patrol hit a land mine.Middle East International No 488, 18 November 1994; October chronology p.14 The shelling originated from the IDF military outpost base, Dabshe, which was situated on a hill overlooking Nabatieh. Dabshe - AP video The following week, 29 October, twenty Hizbollah fighters overran and set fire to the base. A video later broadcast by al-Manar showing the Hezbollah flag flying over the base caused a sensation. At the time it was estimated that Nabatieh had a population of 60,000. AP - Hizbillah overruns IDF baseHirst, David (2010) Beware of Small States. Lebanon, battleground of the Middle East. Faber and Faber. pp.250-251
On 14 March 1995 the Lebanese cabinet held a symbolic session in Nabatieh to mark the 14th anniversary of the Operation Litani. The meeting called for the implementation of the seventeen year old United Nations Security Council Resolution 425.Middle East International No 496, 17 March 1995; Jim Muir pp.3-4 Later that year, 8 July, two teenage sisters and their four-year-old brother were killed when the town was hit by anti-personnel shells filled with steel darts, which are banned by the Geneva Conventions. It was reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak ‘reproved’ the unit involved. Ten rockets were fired into northern Israel.Middle East International No 505, 21 July 1995; Godfrey Jansen pp.7-8Middle East International No 509, 22 September 1995; July chronology p.16
During Operation Grapes of Wrath by the IDF on 18 April 1996, nine members of one family in Nabatieh were killed in the seventeen day bombardment when their house was destroyed.Middle East International No 532, 16 August 1996; Michael Jansen p.20. Quoting Amnesty International report "Unlawful killing during Operation "Grapes of Wrath"" July 1996
On the night of 16–17 August 2024, Israeli Air Force jets Nabatieh attack in Nabatieh, killing at least 11 people and injuring four others.
On Sunday 13 October 2024, a number of people were killed as a result of airstrikes on the town's Ottoman-era market. A remnant of a US-made munition was found at the site of the airstrike on the Ottoman-era market. Due to the fire, the number of injured was not determined.
On 16 October 2024, an Israeli strike targeted the Headquarters of the "Nabatieh City Municipality" during a local council meeting to discuss the humanitarian crisis in place, killing the city's mayor Ahmad Kahil and 15 employees and volunteers, while at least 50 people were wounded.
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The population is not accurately known as by as no census has been taken in Lebanon since the 1930s; estimates range from 15,000 to 120,000. A 2006 population estimate by the now-closed German population site called World Gazetteer put the population at 100,541, which would make it the fifth largest city in Lebanon, according to the 2006 population estimates of Lebanese cities, but after an update in either 2007 or 2008 and calculations for the following years the 2013 population estimate turned out to be much lower at 36,593 and making the city the 11th largest in Lebanon behind Tyre, Bint Jbeil, Zahlé, Sidon, Baalbek, Jounieh, Tripoli and Beirut according to those 2013 estimates. It is the main city in the Jabal Amel area and the chief center for both the mohafazat, or governorate, and the kaza, or canton both also called Nabatieh. Nabatieh is an important town both economically and culturally.
Every year, the city commemorates the Battle of Karbala to remember the martyrdom of Imam al Husayn.
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