South Beirut

Dahieh (Arabic: الضاحية الجنوبية‎ al-Janubiya, French: Banlieue Sud de Beyrouth, Dâhiye de Beyrouth, meaning "the southern suburb") is a predominately Shia Muslim suburb south of Beirut, Lebanon, composed of several towns and municipalities. There is also a minority of coexisting Sunni Muslims. They also inhabit a Palestinian refugee camp which has 20,000 inhabitants. It is located north of the Rafic Hariri International Airport, with the Airport Road passing through it. Prior to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, it was a residential area as well as a commercial area with malls and stores. The district is home to many souks. It's also the Beirut stronghold of the Shi'ite Islamist group, Hezbollah, and it had a large auditoriums in Haret Hreik, Hadath and Bourj al-Barajne where Hezbollah followers gather during special occasions.

The neighbourhood of Dahieh continued to be a frequent target of Israeli jets and warships. The Hezbollah auditorium and residential areas were destroyed according to Lebanese, Arab and western media. Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar, was also targeted in the area.

Hours after the August 14, 2006 ceasefire, Hezbollah pledged to reconstruct houses for the dwellers of Dahieh, and it offered rent money for the time-being as attempt to build better houses condenses.

On September 22, 2006, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah attended a mass rally in Dahieh declaring a "Divine Victory" against Israel. Apart from mentioning Hezbollah having 20,000 rockets at its disposal, he also went on to criticize Lebanon's central government, stating it should step down and form a unity government.

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Wikipedia