Mitri thanks Syria for offering help in Lebanon's fight against wildfires

BEIRUT — Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri on Wednesday thanked Syrian officials who contacted him to offer the assistance of Syria's Emergency Situations and Disasters Ministry in extinguishing the fires in Lebanon.

Over the past three days, massive wildfires have ravaged forests in several northern and southern regions, despite the mobilization of firefighting teams, Civil Defense and the Lebanese Army.

"Thank you to the Syrian officials who contacted us to offer the help of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Disasters in extinguishing the fires," Mitri wrote on his X account.

The deputy prime minister, who oversees cooperation and relations with the new Syrian authorities within the Lebanese government as part of ongoing bilateral issues, added that "this kind gesture demonstrates the spirit of solidarity that prevails in the relationship between Syria and Lebanon."

Already affected at the beginning of last week, the mountainous Chadra area in northeastern Akkar was once again ravaged by flames from Sunday to Tuesday, with the spread worsened by strong winds.

Despite a 14-hour intervention by an army helicopter on Monday to try to extinguish the fire — which had already decimated about six hectares of pines and oaks — the blaze reignited overnight from Monday to Tuesday.

Another fire destroyed significant parts of the famous Bkassine pine forest in Jezzine (South Lebanon), the largest of its kind in the Middle East.

While no information was yet available regarding the cause of the fires in Akkar and Jezzine, Israeli strikes triggered other blazes in South Lebanon on Monday. Weather conditions favorable for wildfire spread did the rest.