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Lebanon's environment has been a battlefield for decades
Lebanon's environment has been a battlefield for decades
By Samia Alduaij
Lebanon has been in the firing line of Israeli environmental crimes for decades. And in 2024, a new chapter of environmental devastation was unleashed upon it. What began as a regional escalation quickly became a full-scale assault on the country's ecosystems, agricultural heritage and public health. The Israeli military's campaign, marked by the extensive use of white phosphorus and other banned weapons, has left a scar on Lebanon's environment that will take years — if not decades — to heal.
Over 6,000 hectares of Lebanon's forests and farmland were set ablaze by incendiary munitions. These fires destroyed 60,000 olive trees, some over 300 years old, decimating the livelihoods of countless families and disrupting the country's fragile ecological balance. The trees, many of which had been handed down across generations, were not only sources of income but symbols of resilience and rootedness.
As someone who worked on environmental recovery after the 2006 attack on Lebanon as part of a World Bank team, I am haunted by the familiar patterns. Back then, we assessed the environmental damages from Israel's bombing of the Jiyyeh power plant, which released over 15,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea. The resulting spill stretched across 150 kilometres of coastline and reached as far as northern Syria. Marine life was crippled. Fishermen lost their livelihoods. We estimated environmental damages at $282 million. Lebanese authorities argued that the real cost exceeded $800 million. It took months of clean-up as many businesses that rely on the sea struggled to stay afloat.
History is repeating itself — only this time, the destruction was even more widespread. Daily breaches of the ceasefire have included bombing of landfills in towns like Majdal Silm, causing toxic gases to leak into the air and pollutants to seep into water tables. Cluster munitions have turned once-arable farmland into minefields. Farmers now risk death just to harvest their crops. This form of warfare is not just about territory — it's about ensuring that land can no longer sustain life.
Perhaps the most alarming consequence of the recent war has been the contamination of the Litani River, a lifeline for over 1.3 million people. Water samples taken after the Israeli attacks revealed phosphate levels 20 times higher than average. This contamination is directly linked to bombings that caused chemical leakage into the lower Litani basin. The water has become unsafe for drinking, irrigation or livestock, affecting over 130 towns across southern Lebanon. Let's keep in mind that the Zionist entity considers the Litani as part of the Greater Israel Project, as declared by its first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion.
Environmental destruction is often dismissed as a secondary concern in times of war. But this mindset is dangerously short-sighted. When ecosystems collapse, so too does the human infrastructure built upon them — food systems, water access, public health. Ecocide is not collateral damage; it is a deliberate act of war that undermines a nation's future.
But there is also resistance in nature and in people. Just as we saw olive trees regrow in southern Lebanon after the 2006 war, so too will they return now. Their roots are deep, and their resilience mirrors that of the communities who tend to them. Lebanon's landscapes have been scarred, but not broken.
NOTE: Samia Aduaij is an environmental specialist who has worked for the UN and the World Bank. She is one of the founders of Sustainable Living Kuwait, a local initiative that promotes sustainable living solutions.
