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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Israel’s war on Lebanon’s trees</h1><p class="gmail-">Israel
has escalated its war on south Lebanon’s woodland – incinerating all
life in the agricultural belt and rendering it an uninhabitable buffer
zone.</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/bilal-nour-al-deen" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">Bilal Nour Al-Deen</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span>APR 7, 2024 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/israels-war-on-lebanons-trees">https://thecradle.co/articles/israels-war-on-lebanons-trees</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/981bc7e4-f5aa-11ee-88d2-00163e02c055.jpeg" alt="" width="408" height="193" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo Credit: The Cradle)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span><p>Lebanon has a deep cultural connection to its trees. Its ancient <a href="https://www.the961.com/scientists-warn-that-lebanons-cedars-are-at-risk/">cedar tree</a>,
which dominates the forests of its northern highlands, holds great
symbolic importance as a national emblem and is featured front and
center on the country’s flag. </p><p>As with other countries around the world, the iconic, resilient cedar faces the growing threat of climate change.</p><p>But
Lebanon’s woodland has come under an even more insidious threat in the
past few months. Hundreds of acres of southern Lebanon’s lush greenery
and vegetation – distinct from the northern cedar forests – have come
under heavy, incendiary Israeli attacks, causing severe environmental
and agricultural devastation to the region.</p><p>The occupation state’s
use of white phosphorus bombs has dramatically impacted the lives of
Lebanese residents, agricultural workers, and the south’s vital <a href="https://timep.org/2023/11/28/israels-environmental-and-economic-warfare-on-lebanon/">agricultural sector</a>, which produces a significant portion of the country’s fruit, citrus, olives, and tobacco.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.savethechildren.net/news/olive-groves-farms-southern-lebanon-destroyed-rising-cross-border-violence-86000-people-forced">Save the Children</a>,
“An increase in cross-border shelling and rocket fire since 7 October
has triggered blazes in a key agricultural area of Lebanon that have run
wild through olive groves and nearby farming communities.”</p><p>In
February, the charity noted that tens of thousands of families in
southern Lebanon have lost their livelihood, with Israeli military fire
destroying over 47,000 olive trees – as well as other crops during their
harvest. </p><p>On 4 April, outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati <a href="https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1409271/mikati-seeks-to-declare-south-lebanon-an-agricultural-disaster-zone.html#:~:text=the%20two%20sides.-,BEIRUT%20%E2%80%94%20Outgoing%20Prime%20Minister%20Najib%20Mikati%20announced%20his%20intention%20to,Hamas%2C%20its%20ally%20in%20Gaza.">warned</a> that southern Lebanon could be designated as an “agricultural disaster zone.” Lebanon’s <i>National News Agency</i> quoted Mikati as saying:</p><blockquote><p>Eight
hundred hectares have been completely damaged, 340,000 heads of
livestock have died, and about 75 percent of farmers have lost their
final source of income.</p></blockquote><p><strong>Hezbollah’s green fingers</strong></p><p>In
2013, the non-profit association Green Without Borders (GWB) was
established to rejuvenate various southern areas through widespread
tree-planting initiatives, causing deep distress for Israel’s military
brass. In 2017, the occupation army’s Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi <a href="https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/hezbollah-and-lebanon-an-in-depth-examination-under-hassan-nasrallah-s-leadership/hezbollah-uses-environmental-organization-as-front-for-terror-activity/#:~:text=Palestinian%20Terrorism-,Hezbollah%20Uses%20Environmental%20Organization%20as%20Front%20for%20Terror%20Activity,UN%20Security%20Council%20Resolution%201701.">accused</a> the Lebanese resistance, Hezbollah, of utilizing the environmental organization as a cover for its border activities. </p><p>But the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-denies-israeli-claims-hezbollah-posing-as-green-ngo/">refuted</a> Tel
Aviv’s claims. It confirmed that GWB was indeed engaged in legitimate
tree-planting activity, further noting that the UN force “has not
observed any unauthorized armed persons at the locations or found any
basis to report a violation of resolution 1701.” </p><p>Then, the Americans got involved with the issue of Lebanon’s southern foliage. In 2023, the US Department of the Treasury <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1698">imposed sanctions</a> on
GWB and its president under the pretext that the association “serves as
cover for Hezbollah’s underground warehouses and munitions storage
tunnels.”</p><p><strong>Israel’s scorched earth policy </strong></p><p>Ongoing
Israeli paranoia over Lebanon’s trees may explain why Tel Aviv has
rained down white phosphorus over the south. These incendiary munitions
burn everything in their path, including humans, vehicles, and
vegetation, and are illegal to use in civilian areas under international
law. </p><p>Within a month of the northern battle’s inception, <a href="https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1356622/israels-phosphorous-bombs-destroyed-over-45-million-sq-m-of-forest-in-southern-lebanon.html">reports</a> emerged
that Israeli airstrikes had destroyed several hundred hectares of
woodland, including pines, oaks, and centuries-old olive groves. </p><p>Lebanese outrage has only grown since then. On 20 March, Minister of Agriculture Abbas Hajj Hassan <a href="https://www.saba.ye/en/news3314582.htm">declared</a>: </p><blockquote><p>The
Zionist entity’s attacks are not limited to the human losses that are
absolutely irreplaceable. The Israeli bombing has caused severe damage
to the agricultural sector, through which at least 6,000 hectares of
agricultural land have been severely damaged, directly and 2,000
completely. It also destroyed 60,000 olive trees, some of which were 300
years old, as well as citrus, banana, and almond trees, as well as
fruitful and non-fruitful trees, and vast areas were completely
destroyed.</p></blockquote><p>Hajj Hassan believes that Tel Aviv’s
scorched earth policy serves two purposes: “The first is to break the
will of the southerners,” forcing them to leave their lands, which will
“shake the front,” and the second is to raze everything in sight “to
abolish vegetation cover,” so the resistance and the Lebanese army will
be exposed to Israel’s air force.</p><p>A source at Lebanon’s Southern Green Association tells <i>The Cradle</i> that Israel has destroyed large swathes of the south for this purpose:</p><blockquote><p>It
has targeted the entire territory adjacent to the border with Palestine
– an area exceeding 100 kilometers long from Naqoura to Mount Hermon
and the hills of Kfar Shuba, and to a depth exceeding an average of 6–7
kilometers – in several attacks.</p></blockquote><p>He adds that the
military operations “aim to make the area uninhabitable for Israel to
implement a buffer zone inside Lebanon’s border.”</p><blockquote><p>There
is a clear, deliberate burning of the forest cover, destruction of
olive vines and fruit trees, and contamination of the soil, which
explains the intensive use of white phosphorus.</p></blockquote><p>GWB President Zuhair Nahle, who has been personally sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury, makes clear to <i>The Cradle</i> that his organization is authorized by the Lebanese Ministry of Interior. </p><blockquote><p>Among
our goals is to establish nurseries to produce forest and fruitful
seedlings for afforestation and to care for what we have planted. We are
an environmental organization that operates throughout all Lebanese
territories, not just in Lebanon’s south.</p></blockquote><p>Nahle also
points out that Israel has a problem with Lebanese forestry in general
because it obscures their illegal reconnaissance activities. Tel Aviv,
it should be noted, violates Lebanese airspace hundreds of times per
year to carry out recon operations, in blatant violation of UN Security
Council Resolution 1701:</p><blockquote><p>Israelis generally hate
[Lebanese] tree-planting and forestry because the forest tree and its
leaves don’t help them see what is under its dense branches. Also, it
doesn’t allow radar and heat waves to penetrate. Thus, Israel feels
uncomfortable regarding planting trees or protecting them … We have 18
sites in South Lebanon.</p></blockquote><p><strong>GWB’s connection to the resistance </strong></p><p>Speaking to <i>The Cradle</i>, retired General of the Lebanese Armed Forces Naji Malaeb says that GWB indeed “bothered Israel.” </p><blockquote><p>The
fact that Hezbollah is deployed in an area where the UNIFIL and the
Lebanese army are deployed too, without having a military barracks, a
headquarters, or a visible weapons store, means that it has already been
smeared behind other names, including Green Without Borders.</p></blockquote><p>Malaeb
emphasizes that Hezbollah retains its military capabilities, regardless
of Israel’s many, varied efforts to counter them, including burning
down all the greenery in sight: “After the assassination of Hamas leader
Saleh al-Arouri (on 2 January 2024), Hezbollah was able to launch 62
rockets at once from southern Lebanon.”</p><p>“Where were these missiles fired from while the area is being monitored by the Israelis, from the air?” he asks.</p><p>Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based American researcher and journalist who has covered Hezbollah for years, shares with <i>The Cradle</i> that
“GWB’s motto is ‘The Shade of the Resistance,’ which certainly
indicates a connection to Hezbollah. But I don’t believe Hezbollah
denies this association.” </p><blockquote><p>The main purpose of GWB in
the south was to establish observation posts along the Blue Line. These
posts were not hidden; some were towering structures reaching 15 meters
or more. By now, all of the observation posts have probably been
destroyed.</p></blockquote><p>Blanford claims those “posts served for
observation, keeping an eye on Israeli movements. There was probably a
psychological element to it as well because the Israelis were always
complaining about the GWB posts but couldn’t do anything about them.”</p><p><strong>Environmental and strategic considerations</strong></p><p>Yet Blanford also emphasizes that Hezbollah likely didn’t utilize GWB for concealment purposes:</p><blockquote><p>Hezbollah
often utilizes existing forests and woods to shield their activities
from the overhead view, such as from Israeli jets and drones. There were
several positions in Wadi Salouqi, and they were not kept secret. The
entrances to these positions were visible from the main road running
through the Wadi.</p></blockquote><p>He further explains that
Hezbollah’s military preference is for low-signature tactics, such as
the use of underground bunker and tunnel networks, exemplified by the
famous Mleeta tunnel network dating back to the 1980s. </p><p>Blanford
notes that Hezbollah does use vegetation cover, like bushes and trees,
to launch attacks on Israeli positions, highlighting their strategic use
of natural terrain for operational advantage – as do all armies.</p><p>There
are parallels between the US's use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War
and Israel’s similar deforestation efforts in southern Lebanon during
the 1990s. </p><p>Blanford recalls witnessing Israel’s firing of
phosphorous shells into dry undergrowth near Arab Salim, illustrating a
longstanding military tactic aimed at destroying potential cover
utilized by adversaries.</p><p>Clearly, Hezbollah recognizes the
strategic importance of trees in providing cover to its fighters, just
as the occupation military’s actions reveal Israel’s readiness to
destroy Lebanon’s entire tree population as a <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">war tactic in full-spectrum warfare, akin to Tel Aviv's total-destruction approach in Gaza. </span></p><p>Nevertheless, history – and indeed Gaza – proves that this strategy will <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23833">ultimately be futile</a>, offering only short-term tactical advantages. Lebanon’s trees are deeply rooted in the land, as is its resistance.</p></span></div></div></div></div>
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