Lebanon's outgoing Minister of Agriculture, Abbas Hajj Hassan. (Credit: National News Agency)
“The damage inflicted on the agricultural sector due to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon is extremely significant,” the minister told the press. “It's impossible to provide exact figures at the moment, as the situation is evolving, with hundreds of villages being bombed from Baalbeck-Hermel to the South.”
The Agriculture Ministry “made a rough estimate of the crops and harvests destroyed” but “a cease-fire is essential in order to establish an accurate assessment of the losses,” he said.
He also noted that the Ministry, in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), began an aerial satellite survey to measure agricultural damage across the country. “This process will identify land affected by white phosphorus, cluster bombs and fires,” he explained.
The Lebanese minister also mentioned “a partnership with FAO and other organizations to establish a specific compensation mechanism for farmers,” saying that “this issue is among the top priorities of the Agriculture Ministry.”
“All sectors have suffered damage, but the agricultural sector is the one that has been most seriously impacted,” he stressed, adding that, according to FAO, “70 percent of the agricultural sector has been affected, directly or indirectly.”
Emphasizing the need to “distribute compensation in a fair and transparent manner,” Hajj Hassan recalled that “even before this war, Lebanon was facing a lack of trust, both internally and from the international community.”
“This moment can be an opportunity to restore this trust, provided that this sensitive issue is handled with the greatest objectivity and with absolute transparency,” he continued.
Finally, the minister said that while “massive displacements caused by Israeli aggression and strikes on land crossings have disrupted the export process, maritime exports and imports continue, albeit on a reduced scale.”
“Despite it being difficult to access southern regions, some farmers continue to take risks to reach their land, braving bombardments and destruction,” he added. “They remain firmly attached to their land and carry on with their agricultural activities and their harvest, even if it only represents 15 percent of the usual yield.”
On Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil that triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah opened a “support front” for the Palestinian movement by firing rockets almost daily toward northern Israel. At the end of September, the Israeli army launched a massive bombing campaign targeting Hezbollah positions, followed by a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
The war in Lebanon has killed more than 3,583 people since October 2023.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
