Nahr al-Kabir

The river in 2005

Map of a part of the Levant. Blue lines are rivers, white lines are country borders. Nahr al-Kabir is the relatively short river that forms a part of the Lebanon–Syria border, flowing into the Mediterranean Sea roughly between the cities of Trablous (Tripoli) and Tartus

The Nahr al-Kabir, also known in Syria as al-Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi (Template:Langx, in contrast with the Nahr al-Kabir al-Shamali) or in Lebanon simply as the Kebir, is a river in Syria and Lebanon flowing into the Mediterranean Sea at Arida. The river is Template:Cvt long, and drains a watershed of Template:Cvt.<ref>United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia et al., "Nahr el Kabir Basin", Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia 8 PDF</ref> Its headwaters are at the Ain as-Safa spring in Lebanon and it flows through the Homs Gap in the Orontes River Valley of southern Syria.

The river forms the northern part of the Lebanon–Syria border at the Jebel Ansariyah mountains in Syria. In antiquity, the river was known as Eleutherus (Greek Ελεύθερος Eleutheros, Ελευθερίς Eleuteris lit. 'free'). It defined the border between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires during much of the 3rd century BCE.<ref>Dov Gera, Judaea and Mediterranean Politics: 219 to 161 B.C.E., p. 9</ref>

The river is mentioned by Josephus<ref>Josephus, The Jewish War 1:363 pg 75 Translated by G.A.Williamson 1959, printed 1981</ref> and in 1 Maccabees 11:7 and 12:30.

Due to its shallowness, the river was a key site of the Syrian refugee crisis since 2011.<ref name="f782">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="p400">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="c011">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="r000"/> It was a location for people smuggling and drug (especially captagon) trafficking.<ref name="h486">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="i706">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="p184">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="b552">Template:Cite web</ref> It flooded in 2019, inundating Lebanon’s largest Syrian refugee camp.<ref name="x000">Template:Cite web</ref> Later, many Syrians returned across the river fleeing the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–2024).<ref name="r000"/> River crossings were bombed by Israel in November 2024.<ref name="m622">Template:Cite web</ref> After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, thousands crossed it irregularly to return to or informally visit Syria.<ref name="r000"/> Thousands of refugees fled across the river into Lebanon during the 2025 massacres of Syrian Alawites.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="r000">Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

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