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Israeli occupation forces burn over 120 hectares of centuries-old olive groves in south Lebanon

August 5, 2026

Israeli occupation troops set fire to over 120 hectares (1,200 dunams) of olive groves and fruit orchards in the Lebanese border town of Yaroun in Bint Jbeil District, with the blaze burning for over 36 hours.

“My heart broke at the sight. Together with several residents, we watched the fields burn until we were in tears,” Hafez Ghacham, municipality chairman of Yaroun, told L’Orient-Le Jour on 3 August.

𝗜𝗦𝗥𝗔𝗘𝗟𝗜 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗡

The Israeli military is currently carrying out operations setting fire to historic olive groves in the border town of Yaroun.

Israel systematically burns and lays… pic.twitter.com/LFDZ87Y6cW

— Ibrahim Majed (@IbrahimMajed) August 2, 2026

“Houses can be rebuilt, but the old olive trees will take decades to return to how they were before,” Ghacham added.

Neither residents nor fire engines could reach the village to extinguish the fire due to the presence of Israeli occupation forces, allowing the flames to spread unchecked.

Ghacham called the destruction an attack on Yaroun’s history, identity, and livelihoods, with olive groves passed down through generations supporting many families.

He estimated the land could have produced thousands of cans of olive oil, each dunam yielding six cans worth about $150.

The village of Yaroun is home to both Muslims and Christians, Gahacm highlighted.

“The flames made no distinction between the olive groves of Christians and those of Muslims,” he told the Lebanese daily, adding that the scale of the destruction concerns “the whole of the South: its land, its people, its culture, its dignity and its history.”

The municipality announced it would present evidence of the destruction to the UN, saying that Israel targeted not just homes but also the environment, cultural sites, and agricultural activities in southern Lebanon.

Despite a so-called “ceasefire” agreement announced earlier this year, the Israeli military has intensified waves of demolitions, explosions and house burnings in occupied villages throughout southern Lebanon.

700 tons of explosives.

Israel detonated 700 tons of explosives beneath Beaufort Castle in South Lebanon, in the middle of the night.

A 900-year-old Crusader castle that UNESCO just listed as endangered heritage. pic.twitter.com/4uAhrzXiTS

— sarah (@sahouraxo) July 31, 2026

The large fire that destroyed Yaroun’s olive groves occurred just days prior to the seventh round of US-mediated talks between the Lebanese government and Israel.

“Today, we consider that all direct negotiations have brought Lebanon nothing but disgrace, humiliation, disappointment, and successive concessions. What have all the rounds that took place offered to Lebanon? Meanwhile, Israel took everything,” Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said during a speech on 4 August.

“You go to discussions, hold sessions, and do not ask about these bitter results under shelling, humiliation, and disgrace, and this is inconsistent with anyone who wants the sovereignty of the nation,” Qassem added.