BEIRUT - Hassan Naim, a 60-year-old farmer displaced from the village of Rab El Thalathine in southeastern Lebanon, was used to harvesting olives in his fields at this time of year. But for the second year in a row, the joy of the harvest has been drowned out by the sounds of shelling in southern Lebanon amid the ongoing escalation of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
"A long distance separates us from the olive fields and the seasonal blessings we have waited for every October," Naim said as he sat on a wooden bench in a classroom at the official Rachaya el-Wadi high school. "Armed clashes and forced displacement have deprived farmers in border areas of the olive harvest, their main source of livelihood amid a worsening economic situation," He added.
Tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border have escalated since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, displacing tens of thousands of Lebanese and disrupting agriculture in southern Lebanon.
Valíd Daher, a farmer in the southeastern Lebanese town of Shebaa, said olives in the border areas are a source of livelihood for more than 85 percent of local families who rely on this "season of plenty" to meet urgent needs before winter. "Olives protect farmers from poverty and provide them with oil that is used in most dishes," He said.
Daher called on the Lebanese authorities, through international actors and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), to make every effort to conclude a ceasefire that would allow olive growers in the border area to harvest their crops this season.
Lebanese Minister for Agriculture Abbas Hajj Hassan said more than 50,000 olive trees had been burned and thousands more damaged because of Israel's use of bombs. He added that the continued Israeli bombardment of the agricultural sector, especially olive fields, has devastated farmers who have lost two consecutive seasons and destroyed many orchards.
According to the minister, once the conflict subsides, the ministry will assess the damage to the agricultural and livestock sectors, including olive fields, which cover some 120,000 dunams (about 30,000 acres) in southern Lebanon, in preparation for compensating the owners.
"The Lebanese government informed the UN of agricultural losses caused by Israeli bombing," He said.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, Lebanon has over 15 million olive trees, which produce 150 000 to 250 000 tonnes of olives annually, from which 15 000 to 25 000 tonnes of olive oil are obtained. Of these, approximately 5 000 to 8 000 tonnes are exported.
Nahida al-Zein, a farmer displaced from the southern village of Aitaroun to Joub Jannine in eastern Lebanon, said she inherited an olive grove from her father that has about 100 mature trees and produces about 30 cans of oil a year. She used to send the oil to friends as gifts, but now she longs for at least one bottle, which is hard to come by.
"We now use donor-sourced vegetable oil instead of our Southern Olive Oil, which won an award at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition 2023 in New York," She said.
Farmer George Nehme from the southern town of Sarda, expressed hope that the war would soon be over, allowing him to return to his olive grove and rebuild what the "dirty" war had destroyed.
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