Fauda tops Netflix chart in Lebanon with 7 October-focused season

Israeli hit series Fauda has become the most-watched show on Netflix in Lebanon after returning with a season shaped by the 7 October attacks.

The fifth series of the Hebrew- and Arabic-language thriller has drawn large audiences across several Arab countries since becoming available internationally on Netflix.

It reached number one in Lebanon over the weekend and climbed to second place in Jordan on Friday, according to streaming rankings reported by the Times of Israel, citing tracking site FlixPatrol.

The show has also featured prominently in Netflix charts elsewhere in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Its success in Lebanon is particularly striking given the country’s conflict with Israel and the fighting that followed 7 October, when Hezbollah began firing at Israel from Lebanon on 8 October 2023.

Fauda, created by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, follows members of an undercover Israeli counter-terrorism unit and has built an international following since first airing in Israel more than a decade ago.

Its creators substantially rewrote the fifth season following Hamas’s 7 October attacks on southern Israel. The new storyline deals with the lasting trauma of the massacre and its impact on Israeli society, with much of the action taking place two years later.

The 11-episode season first aired in Israel between May and July before its international Netflix release.

The war also had a direct impact on people connected to the series.

Longtime Fauda crew member Matan Meir was killed while serving in Gaza in December 2023 after an explosion near a booby-trapped tunnel shaft in Beit Hanoun. The opening episode of the new season was dedicated to him.

Idan Amedi, who appeared in three previous seasons and had been expected to return for the fifth, was seriously wounded while serving as a reservist in Gaza in January 2024. He later recovered but does not appear in the new series.

Raz, the programme’s co-creator and leading actor, was abroad when Hamas attacked Israel and returned the following day. He joined volunteers from Brothers in Arms helping communities affected by the assault.

The season, filmed in southern Israel and Budapest, also explores hostility towards Israel overseas following the outbreak of the war.

Composer Gilad Benamram said those working on the programme felt Israel’s situation was being portrayed abroad “in a twisted way”.

“It’s very frustrating, and that frustration came through in the writing,” he said.