Arsal
Aarsal, Ersal 'Irsal
Town and Municipality
Arsal is located in Lebanon
Arsal
Arsal
Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 34°10′46″N 36°25′15″E / 34.17944°N 36.42083°E / 34.17944; 36.42083
Country Lebanon
GovernorateBaalbek-Hermel
DistrictBaalbek
Area
 • Total
122.37 sq mi (316.94 km2)
Elevation
5,090 ft (1,550 m)
Population
Estimate
 • Total
50,000[1]
Time zoneEST+7
Ain Choaab
Ain Chaub
Map
Interactive map of Ain Choaab
TypeRock shelter
CulturesNatufian
Location3 km (1.9 mi) east of Labweh
Site notes
Excavation dates1970, 1976
ArchaeologistsBruce Schroeder
Public accessYes

Arsal (also spelled Aarsal, Ersal or 'Irsal; Arabic: عرسال), is a town and municipality situated east of Labweh, 124 kilometres (77 mi) northeast of Beirut, in Baalbek District of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon.[2] The population is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

Etymology

According to a brochure published by the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, the name Arsal or Ersal means "God's Throne" in Aramaic.[3][4]

History

Early history

Arsal is a traditional town on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon mountains. It is known for its hand made made carpet industry[5][2] and is among the few places in the Anti-Lebanon mountains with a reliable source of water.[6] The Ministry of Tourism brochure documents several rock cut benches (mastabas), numerous historical monuments in the nearby hills and an ancient fortified structure of unknown date in the nearby Wadi Al-Toun.[3]

The Ain Choaab (or Ain Chaub) lies in the nearby hills just off the main road from Arsal to Labweh. Natufian rock shelters are situated 80 metres above the wadi bed of the spring; flint tools were collected from the site by Bruce Schroeder in 1970.[7][8] The Ain Choaab site has not been excavated.[9] In 1838, Eli Smith noted 'Arsal as a Metawileh village in the Baalbek area.[10][11]

Syrian Civil War and refugee crisis (2012–2019)

On 17 September 2012, Syrian ground-attack aircraft fired three missiles across the border into Lebanese territory near Arsal. It was suggested that the jets were pursuing rebels. The attack prompted Lebanese president Michel Sleiman to launch an investigation, whilst not publicly blaming Syria for the incident.[12]

Five days later, armed members of the Free Syrian Army attacked a nearby border post; the group was driven off into the hills by the Lebanese Army, which detained and later released some rebels due to pressure from locals. Sleiman praised the army's response as consistent with Lebanon's neutrality.[13][14]

By September 2012, 1,400 Syrian refugee children had been displaced into the town, whose had capacity for only 100 students, contributing to a wider strain on the Beqaa region's education system.[15]

On 2 February 2013, the Lebanese army was ambushed in the town while attempting to arrest Khaled Homayed reportedly linked to Fatah al-Islam and the 2011 Estonian cyclists abduction; two officers were killed Residents refused to assist the army in locating the gunmen.[16]

In August 2014, ISIS and its allies launched a full-scale assault on the town; the Battle of Arsal with Lebanese troops lasted for five days before the militants were pushed back to Syria. By January 2016 a local newspaper reported reported 10,000 Syrian refugees within Arsal itself and a further 100,000 in dozens surrounding camps.[17] A separate estimate put the figure at 50,000.[18]

On 21 July 2017, a Syrian Army commander said that his forces and Hezbollah had launched a joint offensive to recapture the remaining territory under militant control near the Lebanon-Syria border, striking the outskirts of Arsal; the Lebanese Army took up a defensive position in the town.[19]

In 2019, the Lebanese government ordered the demolition of refugee shelters built of hollow blocks over the preceding years,. According to the UNHCR, citing missing building permits. According to UNHCR, the order affected roughly 2,300 shelters in 17 camps around Arsal and up to 15,000 people, of whom about half are children.[20] the use of bulldozers also destroyed furniture, water tanks, and household goods inside the shelters, and only tents were subsequently permitted for Syrian residents.[21][22]

Aftermath of the fall of the Assad regime (2024–present)

Following the fall of the Assad regime, in December 2024, Lebanon and UNHCR began coordinating a voluntary return programme for Syrian refugees; by September 2025, UNHCR estimated roughly 200,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria.[23] Camps around Arsal were among those affected by the resulting population movement; ''The National'' reported lories carrying refugees' belongings departing a camp in Arsal for Syria in mid-2025 as part of a wider return wave.[24]

Lebanon's government launched an Organized Voluntary Return Plan in July 2025 aiming to facilitate the return of 200,000 to 400,000 refugees by the end of the year, including a $100 payment per returnee and a waiver of residency-related fines.[25] The movement was not one directional, a March 2025 report by the century International think tank found that roughly 90,000 people crossed form Syrian into the Lebanon's Baalbek-Hermel governorate, the district containing Arsal, in the immediate aftermath of Assad's fall, as instability in Syria prompted some to flee in the opposite direction.[26] Refugee intentions to return have fluctuated since December 2024: a survey by the International Rescue Committee found the share of Syrian refugees in Lebanon willing to return fell from 18.2 percent immediately after Assad's fall to 9 percent by March 2025.[27]

Demographics

In 2014 Muslims made up 99.69% of registered voters in Arsal. 98.86% of the voters were Sunni Muslims.[28]

References

  1. ^ "Hizbollah role blurs boundary of Syria conflict". Financial Times.
  2. ^ a b Ministry of Tourism Promenade Brochure - Baalbek Al-Hermel Archived July 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b "All About Tourism in Bekaa". opendatalebanon.org. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  4. ^ "Ba'albeck Al-Hermel" (PDF). 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2012.
  5. ^ Auzias, Dominique; Labourdette, Jean-Paul (2006). Liban / [Dominique Auzias et Jean-Paul Labourdette]. Le Petit futé. Country guide. Nouvelles Editions de l'Université. Paris. ISBN 978-2-7469-1632-6.
  6. ^ Fisher, W. B. (William Bayne) (1963). The Middle East : a physical, social, and regional geography. Internet Archive. London : Methuen.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ^ M.M.G. AKKERMANS, PETER; M. SCHWARTZ, GLENN (2003). "THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SYRIA".
  8. ^ BAR-YOSEF, OFER (1998). "The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture" (PDF).
  9. ^ Schroeder, Bruce (1991). Natufian in the Central Béqaa Valley, Lebanon. Archaeological series. International Monographs in Prehistory. ISBN 978-1-879621-03-9.
  10. ^ Robinson, Edward; Smith, Eli (1841). Biblical researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea : a journal of travels in the year 1838. Robarts - University of Toronto. Boston : Crocker.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  11. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 145
  12. ^ FOX News, Syrian jets hit Lebanese territory near border, September 18, 2012.
  13. ^ "The Daily Star (Lebanon), Lebanese president praises Army response to FSA attack, September 23, 2012". Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  14. ^ Rebeldes sirios atacan un puesto del Ejército en territorio de Líbano, CNN Espanol, Alkhshali Hamdi, Amir Ahmed, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Ben Brumfield and Joe Sterling, 22 September 2012.
  15. ^ al-Fakih, Rakan., The Daily Star (Lebanon), Refugee children overwhelm Bekaa schools, September 19, 2012.
  16. ^ "At least two soldiers killed in east Lebanon ambush". The Daily Star. Lebanon.
  17. ^ The Daily Star (Lebanon). 4/1/16 p.3. Nidal Soth.
  18. ^ [1] Daily Star 31/1/16
  19. ^ Bassam, Laila; Perry, Tom (21 July 2017). "Hezbollah, Syria army launch offensive at Syrian-Lebanese border". Reuters. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  20. ^ "Forced To Demolish Their Own Homes, Syrian Refugees In Lebanon Seek New Shelter". NPR.org. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  21. ^ "Lebanon troops demolish Syrian refugee homes as deadline expires". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  22. ^ Al-Arian, Lama; Sherlock, Ruth (2019-06-22). "Forced To Demolish Their Own Homes, Syrian Refugees In Lebanon Seek New Shelter". NPR. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  23. ^ "UNHCR: 200,000 Syrians return from Lebanon after fall of Assad regime". InfoMigrants. 2025-09-04. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  24. ^ Homsi, Nada. "Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon set to return home with financial incentives". The National. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  25. ^ The New Arab Staff. "71,000 Syrian refugees ready to leave Lebanon after Assad fall". The New Arab. Archived from the original on 2026-06-14. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  26. ^ Heller, Sam (2025-03-31). "Cross-Border Shuffle: Refugee Movement Between Lebanon and Syria after Assad". The Century Foundation. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  27. ^ Heller, Sam (2025-08-11). "Home to Syria: Lebanon's New Refugee Returns Plan". The Century Foundation. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  28. ^ "التوزيع حسب المذاهب للناخبين/ناخبات في بلدة عرسال، قضاء بعلبك محافظة البقاع في لبنان". lub-anan.com. Retrieved 2026-08-18.

Bibliography