A photo of the fields of Ramzi Chamout, in Abbasieh, in the district of Sour in South Lebanon. (Photo provided by the farmer)
"In all my years as a farmer, I have never gone through a period this dark. We have almost lost all hope," laments Ramzi Chamout, 65, a farmer in Abbasieh, Sour. In southern Lebanon, plunged back into war for the second time in less than two years, farmers are paying a heavy price. Many have had to abandon their land; those who remain are facing what they describe as the worst crisis in their history. Since the war between Hezbollah and Israel re-escalated on March 2, fierce battles have been ongoing south of the Litani River, an area Israel issued displacement orders for from the very first days. Alongside the incessant bombings, there are growing fears of an Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory.For farmers, the worry goes far beyond the day-to-day difficulties brought by war. Above all, it is the uncertainty about the...
"In all my years as a farmer, I have never gone through a period this dark. We have almost lost all hope," laments Ramzi Chamout, 65, a farmer in Abbasieh, Sour. In southern Lebanon, plunged back into war for the second time in less than two years, farmers are paying a heavy price. Many have had to abandon their land; those who remain are facing what they describe as the worst crisis in their history. Since the war between Hezbollah and Israel re-escalated on March 2, fierce battles have been ongoing south of the Litani River, an area Israel issued displacement orders for from the very first days. Alongside the incessant bombings, there are growing fears of an Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory.For farmers, the worry goes far beyond the day-to-day difficulties brought by war. Above all, it is the uncertainty about the...
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