BEIRUT, April 5 (Reuters) – Israeli army airstrikes have transformed southern Lebanon into a “devastated agricultural zone”, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said, according to comments reported by the National Security Agency. ‘information.
Clashes between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, an armed group supported by Iran, on Israel’s northern border since the start of the conflict between Palestinian Hamas and the IDF in the Gaza Strip, with Hezbollah firing rockets and Israel carrying out strikes aerial and artillery shelling.
Israeli strikes have burned tens of thousands of olive trees and torched farmland across southern Lebanon, harming herders and farmers who are already suffering a deep economic crisis.
“Eight hundred hectares were completely damaged, 340,000 heads of livestock died and around 75% of farmers lost their source of income,” according to Najib Mikati.
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“This problem will continue for years to come.”
Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan raised the alarm last month, saying Israeli strikes were preventing farmers in villages and towns near the border from reaching their fields, compromising up to 30 percent of the national agricultural production. (Reporting by Adam Makary and Clauda Tanios; French version Dimitri Rhodes, editing by Sophie Louet)
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