As-Sarafand


As-Sarafand is a municipality in southern Lebanon located 10 km south of Sidon overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Etymology

As-Sarafand is an Arabic rendition of the Phoenician place-name Ṣrpt, after Classical Sarepta, just north of Sarafand.

History

In 1875 Victor Guérin noted that the village had 400 Métualis inhabitants.
In mid-April 1980 Israeli commandos, arriving by sea, raided As-Sarafand killing twenty Lebanese and Palestinians, mostly civilians. During the first three weeks of April the Israelis carried out similar, but smaller, raids along the coast road between Sidon and Tyre, killing thirteen people.
On 7 June 1982, on the second day of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon an IDF brigade was ambushed as it pushed through As-Sarafand. Two Israeli soldiers were killed and one seriously wounded.

Demographics

In 2014, Muslims made up 99.63% of registered voters in As-Sarafand. 96.90% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.

Notable people