Dahieh (Arabic: الضاحية الجنوبية, lit. 'the southern suburb', French: Banlieue Sud de Beyrouth, Dâhiye de Beyrouth) is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It is composed of several towns and municipalities.[1] It is a residential and commercial area with malls, stores and souks.[2]
There is also a minority of coexisting Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is located north of the Rafic Hariri International Airport, with the M51 Freeway that links Beirut to the Airport passing through it. The area was severely bombed by Israel in the 2006 Lebanon War, and the Israeli policy of purposefully maximizing destruction of civilian infrastructure has since been known as the Dahiya doctrine.
Dahieh is the Beirut stronghold of Shia militant group Hezbollah, and it had large auditoria in Haret Hreik, Hadath, Mount Lebanon and Bourj el-Barajneh, where Hezbollah followers gathered on special occasions. It was also the location of Hamas deputy general Saleh al Aruri when he was assasinated by Israel.