Fires in a valley in Bkassine, in the Jezzine district, southern Lebanon, on Nov. 11, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient-Le Jour)
For the third consecutive day, fires have been raging through forests in several regions in northern and southern Lebanon, despite the mobilization of firefighting teams, Civil Defense and the Lebanese Army.
The blazes have sparked anger among many environmentalists and activists, who denounce the lack of responsiveness from authorities.
Already affected at the start of last week, the mountainous region of Shadra in northeastern Akkar has been battling flames since Sunday night, with the spread fueled by strong winds in the area.
Despite a 14-hour intervention on Monday by a Lebanese Army helicopter attempting to extinguish the blaze — which has already destroyed about six hectares of pine and oak trees — the fire flared up again overnight Monday into Tuesday.
Civil Defense crews, along with the Tadbeer association and the Trails of Akkar, were joined by dozens of volunteers from nearby areas as they continued their efforts to fight the blaze, according to our northern Lebanon correspondent.
'Environmental genocide'
While the origin of the Akkar fire appears accidental, it was Israeli strikes that sparked other blazes in southern Lebanon on Monday. At least two fires were reported in the Jezzine district, in the hills of Mount Rihan and the heights of Jarmaq. The rough and challenging terrain is hampering Civil Defense teams, which are also deployed to the scene. A fire also broke out in the Bkassine valley, but it is mostly under control as of this morning.
According to a statement issued Monday evening by the Civil Defense, fires have also been extinguished in many regions, including Dinnieh district, Kesrouan, Baabda and near Jbeil.
These successive fires provoked widespread outrage on Tuesday as the phenomenon, already recurrent during the summer, grew in scale. Environment Minister Tamara Elzein responded on her official account, insisting that “no fire breaks out without human involvement, whether intentional or not.”
After announcing the opening of an investigation into the cause of the Akkar fire, she denounced the "environmental genocide" perpetrated by the Israeli army in Lebanon, recalling that “8,700 hectares of agricultural and forest land” have burned as a result of bombs, sometimes with incendiary munitions, dropped by the Israeli air force since the war began more than two years ago.
Elzein also praised the dedication of Civil Defense teams and called for strengthening their resources “in human and equipment terms,” while emphasizing the need to “develop water storage systems in high-risk areas” and to focus on “risk prevention and setting up early warning systems.”
“In the absence of severe judicial penalties against those who start fires, whatever the motive, no offender will be deterred from repeating their crime,” she added.
'Where is the government?'
This statement was nevertheless criticized by environmental activists. “No, Madam Minister, this country is burning, and people are sick of slogans. Your Ministry is currently running a $3.4 million project to fight forest fires. Where is this project? Where are its results on the ground?” asked Anthony Maaiky, a member of the Trail of Akkar association.
“Yesterday, during the Shadra fire, young men faced death with equipment that was nearly unusable, mostly out of order. May God give them strength, but where is the government?” another commenter criticized online.
A grant of $3,458,000 was issued in 2025 to the Lebanese government as part of the World Bank-funded "Forest Fire Risk Management" project.
Elzein’s predecessor, Nasser Yassin, lamented that “the homeland is burning — under attack in the South and due to negligence or deliberate acts in the north.”
The former minister also expressed doubts about the current government’s strategic choices and the use of the funding. “Priorities seem to have changed, and resources have shifted away from their primary goal. Reducing fires can only succeed by supporting the local communities most at risk and by equipping and developing the teams working on the ground,” he said.
Activist Paola Rebeiz also pointed to fires “set by people to provoke division,” and called for the mobilization of “planes and volunteers.”
President Joseph Aoun, who has been on an official visit to Sofia since Monday, has been monitoring the situation regarding the fires in the Jezzine district, particularly in Bkassine and the Rihan highlands, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). He instructed the Civil Defense and requested the army to deploy helicopters to prevent the flames from spreading.
Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri asked the Islamic Mission Scouts Association, the Civil Defense affiliated with the Amal Movement, to "mobilize all its intervention units, equipment and personnel, and make them available to the municipal councils of the affected areas" in the south to extinguish the fires.
Several local figures in the Jezzine district also responded. Former Jezzine Municipality President Khalil Harfoush denounced the hand of “man, this selfish and destructive criminal” in starting forest fires. Former MP Amal Abou Zeid, who hails from the region, said, “Our beautiful nature should not have to pay the price of war.”
In the early afternoon, firefighters, assisted by villagers and army helicopters, managed to bring under control the fire that started in Bkassine and spread to the towns of Ghbatiyeh and Aaraya. According to the NNA, the flames had already destroyed numerous pine trees, olive trees and vineyards. Army helicopters remain deployed on site to cool the remaining areas and prevent the fire from reigniting.
In 2019, just days before the Oct. 17 popular uprising, large-scale wildfires had already sparked public outrage — especially after it was revealed that firefighting planes held by the Lebanese Army were unusable due to lack of maintenance.
