As Israel Shelling Continues, Lebanon Agriculture Minister Says 22.5% of Farmland Damaged

Israeli forces continued with their destruction of southern Lebanon, and while most of the focus is rightly on the municipalities they’ve attacked and in many cases outright destroyed , the long-term struggle for reconstruction could be the extent of damage to farmland on the outskirts of those villages. Southern Lebanon has (or had) heavily agriculture-based economy, and artillery shelling isn’t just helping the IDF level buildings, but also scorching the earth in general, and leaving a growing amount of Lebanon’s agricultural land burned or otherwise damaged.

Nazir Hani, the Lebanese Agriculture Minister, reported that some 56,000 hectares of farmland, or about 22.5% of the overall farmland across all of Lebanon, has been damaged by the Israeli war. 24,000 hectares of that appears to be olive groves. Olive trees in Marjayoun District were destroyed in white phosphorous strikes | Image from X Some of the trees are bulldozed or otherwise uprooted, and still others have been burnt down by the use of Israeli incendiaries, including white phosphorus munitions.

Access to those olive groves still standing has been limited this harvest season, as the IDF strictly restricts access to many of them in occupied territory. Today’s reports of strikes centered around Bint Jbeil District , which is in the far south along the Israeli border, and enclosed within the occupied “security zone” The strikes hit the outskirts of Aita al-Jabal and the area around the town of al-Tayri. Adding to the complexity of the situation are reports that Turkey is taking an interest in southern Lebanon, potentially as part of their growing regional rivalry with Israel.

President Erdogan’s s on Bilal has reportedly considered a possible visit to the south, though such plans are unconfirmed. If you liked this article, please support Antiwar.com. We are 100% reader-supported.