In 1852,
Edward Robinson noted that the year before, a quantity of gold coin were found at Beit Lif, which was taken to
Beirut and given to the
Pasha. He further noted that the people were planting
millet and tobacco. In 1875,
Victor Guérin found here a village with 80
Metuali inhabitants. In 1881, the
PEF's
Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A village, built of stone, containing about 150 Moslems [..] situated on a hill-top, with a few olives and arable land. Two
cisterns and a birket near supply the water." On 23 November 1997 a
South Lebanon Army compound on the edge of the village came under artillery fire. Eight civilians were killed.
Amal was believed to be responsible for the shelling. ==Demographics==