Aynata is a municipality in Lebanon. It is located in the southern part of the country. It is a stronghold for Hezbollah and during the war with Israel in 2006, about 60% of the homes in the town were destroyed.

History

Israeli archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni identified Aynata as ancient En-hazor, and says it appears in the topographical lists of Thutmose III. In 1854, Charles William Meredith van de Velde proposed that Aynata was Beth-Anath. W.M. Thomson repeated this claim in 1859, and Victor Guérin came to the same conclusion in 1880. The same view was held by historical geographer Georg Kampffmeyer (1892). Foundations and columns of a ruined temple complex in the woods near the village were recorded by William McClure Thomson, who thought them to have once been called Kubrikha. He remarked that "the whole neighborhood is crowded with ancient but deserted sites."

Ottoman era

In 1596, it was named as a village, ‘’Aynata’’ in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 111 households and 22 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a fixed sum; a total of 10,560 akçe. In 1875, Victor Guérin found a village with 400 Metualis. In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A village, built of stone, containing about 500 Metawileh. There is a Moslem school in the village; extensive vineyards and a few olives in the wady. Water supplied from birket and many cisterns.”

Modern era

Aynata is the family home of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent twelver Shia cleric. During the 2006 Lebanon War, on July 19, an Israeli missile killed 4 civilians in the village. On July 24, Israel shelled two houses in the village; killing all inside both houses. One house had 4 Hezbollah fighters, the other house had 8 civilians, aged between 16 and 77. Aaynata has a population of around 5,000 (dropping to 1,300 in the winter) and is 120 kilometers (74.568 mi) away from Beirut and sits 740 meters above sea level. The area borders Bent Jbayl, Aitaroun, and Yaroun. It was occupied by Israel and most residents emigrated to Beirut's southern suburbs. Israel pulled out of the area in 2000 and it has seen housing construction since that time. Tobacco and olives are grown in the area. In 2024, during the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, the Israeli army attacked two vehicles. Hezbollah soldiers were traveling in one of the vehicles and in the other four family members of the journalist Samir Ayoub who were also killed in the attack.

Hezbollah fatalities during 2006 Lebanon War

Demographics

In 2014 Muslims made up 99.21% of registered voters in Aynata. 97.47% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.