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LEBANON-ISRAEL

Lebanon files complaint with UN over Israeli attacks on agricultural sector

Lebanon files complaint with UN over Israeli attacks on agricultural sector

Thick smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike on the village of Jibbain in southern Lebanon on July 11, 2024. (Credit: Kawnat Haju/AFP)

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council on July 3 following Israeli attacks on "the agricultural sector, farmers and herders in border villages."

The ministry said in a statement that the complaint included "official statistics on the number of fires resulting from Israel's use of white phosphorus, which amount to 683 fires." According to the text, the area of ​​land "completely burned exceeds 2,100 dunams (210,000 square meters) over the period from October 8, 2023 to mid-March this year." The area of ​​damaged forests and agricultural land amounts to 6,000 dunams (600,000 square meters).

Describing these attacks as "systematic," the ministry considered that they constitute a "flagrant violation of Article 55 of the 1st Additional Protocol (1977) of the Geneva Conventions (1949), which stipulates that "during hostilities, the natural environment must be protected against widespread, long-term and serious damage." It finally called on the Security Council to "condemn Israel for its direct, deliberate and repeated attacks against civilians and the natural environment in Lebanon" and to ensure that it "does not go unpunished for these crimes."

This new complaint filed by Beirut with the U.N. comes after the Jewish state has repeatedly hit green spaces in Lebanon, as well as shepherds and livestock in villages in the south. On Monday, an Israeli strike hit a sheep farm in Jabal Toura, a few kilometers south of Jezzine, killing hundreds of goats.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council on July 3 following Israeli attacks on "the agricultural sector, farmers and herders in border villages."The ministry said in a statement that the complaint included "official statistics on the number of fires resulting from Israel's use of white phosphorus, which amount to 683 fires." According...