Mona Khalil, a Lebanese conservationist renowned for her efforts to protect endangered sea turtles, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on her home near the southern city of Tyre. According to Sky News, which reported from the area, her beachside house was hit in early June.
Khalil was trapped in the rubble of her home for more than an hour and died from her injuries last week. The Israeli military said she was not a target of the strike that hit the property by the beach.
For years, Khalil had dedicated her life to preserving Lebanon's coastline as a nesting site for endangered turtles. She had moved to the area because it was where the turtles laid their eggs, and where their populations were under threat from predators.
She established a project to protect the hatchlings and to help ensure that the young turtles could safely reach the sea. Those who worked alongside her described the stretch of coast she helped safeguard as one of the country's key nesting areas.
The beach where Khalil carried out her work lies in a part of southern Lebanon that has been caught up in the wider conflict. The Lebanese military told Sky News that journalists could not reach the site because it was considered too dangerous, citing what they believed were nearby Israeli positions and a patrol boat off the coast.
Despite the encroaching fighting, Khalil refused to abandon her conservation work. Friends and colleagues said her commitment to protecting wildlife remained unchanged even as the security situation along the coastline deteriorated.
Since her death, fellow activists, among them a woman named Fadia, have vowed to continue her mission. Those who knew Khalil said the way she was killed drew attention to a life spent protecting nature, and that it had only strengthened their determination to carry on her work.