Firefighters and residents of south Lebanon are pointing fingers at the Israeli military for a series of wildfires, as the region's forests go up in smoke - literally - following Israeli bombing. Environmental groups are calling it a longstanding practice of targeting Lebanon's natural environment, which sounds less like a policy and more like a grudge against trees.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military dropped flares in a wooded area outside Khiam, sparking blazes. When firefighters rushed to put out the flames, a drone struck nearby, forcing them to retreat. Hussein Fakih, head of civil defence in the Nabatieh region, said, "Most of our missions are now related to fires. There are enormous areas of woodland that have burned, I don't have the exact figures, but in the areas close to the [frontline], around 30-40% of the land has been affected by fires."
Since the 17 June ceasefire that mostly ended fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, the Israeli military has been busy setting fires across south Lebanon, particularly in olive groves and agricultural land, according to videos and testimony from first responders. The military, when asked for comment on each incident, gave the silent treatment.
Fakih described the daily routine: "They started doing this right after the ceasefire, and there have been incendiary bombs every day. Small drones come out and drop incendiary materials, [white] phosphorus shells are fired at the woodlands, in addition to illumination flares that they drop during the daytime so the vegetation catches fire."
Firefighters and residents in other areas report similar incidents. On Friday, Israeli munitions sparked large wildfires in two heavily forested areas: Kfarchouba, near the border, and between Jezzine and the western Bekaa valley. Samir Hardan, civil defence station chief, said a drone dropped a munition in woodlands near Kfarchouba on Friday afternoon. After firefighters battled the blaze overnight and extinguished it on Saturday, a second drone started another fire on Sunday. Firefighters, who must coordinate with the Lebanese army and a "deconfliction" group that includes the Israeli military, got permission to fight fires in only two spots - while other areas burned merrily.
Environmental groups see a pattern of attacks against Lebanon's environment, threatening woodlands and biodiversity. Hisham Younes, founder of the Lebanese conservation organisation Green Southerners, said, "These are long-established woodlands, dominated by productive stone pine alongside oak. They perform critical functions. The wider area is also an important passage and resting ground for migratory birds." He called the attacks "ecocide," noting it's not about any single fire but a pattern that erodes ecosystems' ability to function, regenerate, and sustain life. "When those cascading effects also undermine livelihoods and people's ability to return to and remain on their land, environmental destruction becomes inseparable from the wider transformation of the territory itself."
Since fighting began on 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets in solidarity with the Hamas-led attack, Israel has repeatedly targeted Lebanon's woodlands. The Israeli military has previously claimed Hezbollah used these forests as cover for fighters and tunnels. Ecologists and rights groups argue that such widespread environmental destruction will have broader effects on civilians.
Israel's tactics have been, shall we say, creative. In summer 2024, troops used trebuchets - yes, medieval catapults - to fling flaming debris over the border wall. The Lebanese army even published photos of Israeli drones equipped with hoses to douse forests in flammable materials. In February, health experts raised alarms when Israeli planes dropped cancer-linked herbicides on farms.
Beyond environmental and health impacts, residents mourn the loss of green spaces. On 1 August, displaced residents of Yaroun found their olive and fruit groves, and homes, set ablaze by occupying troops. Mayor Hafez Ghasham said, "They had already bulldozed the whole village. Then they set fire to the trees. What remained in this particular area were the olive trees - large groves, with very old olive trees. They started there, then the fire spread along the outskirts of the village."
Yaroun residents had already watched all but 20 of the village's 900 houses bulldozed, pooling resources to buy satellite imagery during displacement. Ghasham added, "Many of these trees, most of them, in fact, were inherited from our grandparents and parents. They have enormous sentimental value. The trees were also an important source of income for the people of the village. They are trying to make the land uninhabitable. They are erasing our entire history, our entire culture, all our memories. Maybe the idea is that after some time, it will look as though nobody had ever lived here."