BEIRUT: Farmers in southern Lebanon have long held a fierce pride in their ancient olive groves. Many boast that their trees, which stretch along the border with Israel, contain specimens “dating back to the time of the pharaohs.”

However, since the most recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, which ran from October 2023 to November 2024, these trees — the stoic, living witnesses of history — have become casualties of the destruction.

The bombardment was not confined to military positions. It struck at the heart of agricultural life in the south, destroying a heritage that provides the economic lifeline for tens of thousands of families.

Olives from the south account for 38 percent of the total olives grown in Lebanon, making their fate critical to the nation’s food security and identity.

The extent of the damage is starkly clear in the official assessments. Agricultural engineer Hussein Al-Saqa, the head of the Agriculture Department in the Nabatieh Governorate at the Ministry of Agriculture, confirmed the deep wounds inflicted on the region’s primary crop.

“There has been structural damage to olive crops, in terms of the destruction that targeted olive groves through burning, bulldozing and uprooting, estimated at around 40 percent in border villages and reaching 3 percent in villages north of the Litani River,” he said.

The immediate economic impact is even more severe. “There is also damage to olive oil production, with losses in the south reaching 90 percent,” Al-Saqa added.

According to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, the region lost around 47,000 trees as a result of flares, phosphorus bombs, and shelling.

The destruction of these trees, some of which “date back to the time of the Phoenicians,” around 1500 B.C. to 300 B.C., as one farmer lamented, has been nothing short of a disaster for agricultural production.

The war has reduced 24 border villages rich in olive trees to scorched earth.

Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war, Hezbollah initiated limited operations against Israel’s north in solidarity with the Palestinian militant groups responsible for the assault.

Israel retaliated against Hezbollah’s attacks with escalating strikes, which included the use of incendiary weapons like white phosphorus. Besides the significant degradation of Hezbollah, the primary consequence of the grinding conflict, which ended with a fragile ceasefire in November 2024, was the mass displacement of farming communities and the devastation of civilian infrastructure across southern Lebanon.

Neither party has yet fulfilled its obligations under the US- and French-brokered ceasefire deal, with Hezbollah failing to disarm and fully withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River and Israeli troops continuing to occupy five strategic hilltops on Lebanese territory.

The devastation wrought by the conflict is deeply personal for farmers like Mahmoud Sarhan, 65, from the border town of Kafr Kila. For him, the loss of the trees is an attack on his very existence.

“I have 10 dunams of land planted with olive trees, and the Israelis uprooted half of them,” said Sarhan. He recounted returning to his field after the war to prune the trees and cultivate the land, only to inhale white phosphorus residue, causing severe lung damage.

Sarhan now relies on oxygen tanks to breathe and is unable to walk. He moved his family to the town of Tuleh, north of the Litani River, but his commitment to his trees remains absolute. “I used to pamper them like my own children,” he said.

The physical destruction is compounded by a bureaucratic siege that has made accessing and salvaging the remaining harvest almost impossible.

Farmer Tariq Mazraani from the town of Hula, a shareholder in the local agricultural cooperative, said farmers had lost “a third season this year.”

While farmers managed a desperate harvest in October 2023 despite the initial attacks, it became impossible to reach the groves the following year due to the intense bombing and mass displacement.

This year, the process required to safely access the fields is layered and restrictive.

Farmers must submit a request to the Lebanese Army Command, specifying their tasks and destination. This request is then forwarded to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which in turn sends it to the Israeli side for approval.

The core difficulty, according to Mazraani, “lies in the permits.

“They limit us to two hours to do what we need to do, but it takes a whole day or more. The process involves picking the olives and removing the sheets placed under the trees.”

Mazraani detailed the impossibility of the time constraint, particularly given the state of the infrastructure and labor shortage.

“Most of the olive trees are located in rugged areas that take time to reach, and we have to pack the olives and transport them to the trucks.

“This cannot be done in two hours, especially since the workers we used to employ were Syrians, and most of them have left the area, and transport vehicles cannot reach the area due to the destruction of the roads.”

Even the act of seeking permission carries risk for farmers like Sarhan, who, despite his injuries, does not want his only son going to town for fear of Israeli attacks.

Sarhan said those submitting requests “must provide detailed information and personal details, all of which reach the Israelis, and I do not want that. I am a farmer and have nothing in this world but God’s mercy.”

The economic impact reverberates across Lebanon. Olive cultivation is the source of livelihood for more than 100,000 southern families and provides seasonal employment for thousands of workers.

The difficulties encountered in harvesting olives, coupled with the destruction of olive presses in the border area and a steep drop in supply, have pushed up the price of olive oil. The price of 20 liters of olive oil now ranges between $180 and $200, compared to just $100 in 2023.

Lebanon typically produces about 20,000 tonnes of olive oil annually, and the commodity is considered an essential ingredient in Lebanese cuisine.

Furthermore, the trees that survived the immediate shelling now face a slow decline from neglect. Engineer Al-Saqa described a scene “reminiscent of Hiroshima,” noting that “the situation in the front-line villages is much worse than we thought.

“There is destruction and devastation, and the trees that survived the war are neglected, infested with insects and disease, affected by humidity, and surrounded by weeds, which weakens the trees and sets them back years,” he said.

The consequence is a grim outlook for future production, even for the surviving groves. Al-Saqa warned that “although the trees remain alive, they will not produce olives in the near future.”

The violence also claimed the lives of those dedicated to their craft. Mazraani noted that “many skilled farmers and craftsmen were killed during the war because they refused to evacuate their homes and leave their farms.”

And the losses are not limited to olives. Vast forest areas, estimated at 18 million square meters in the south, have been destroyed, affecting oak and other perennial trees.

Yet, farmers remain defiantly attached to their land. Abu Ali, from the village of Blida near the Israeli border, said he was unable to harvest this year due to the damage to his field. He will nevertheless persevere.

“Poor farmers are attached to their land and insist on living in their semi-destroyed homes despite the daily fear of death,” he said. “They cultivate their land and harvest their crops despite all the risks.”

The olive trees, which have stood the test of time, are among the few things that can withstand the conditions of war, and farmers are gradually returning.

In an attempt to mitigate the losses, the Ministry of Agriculture has announced the allocation of 50,000 free olive seedlings in the frontline areas.

Minister of Agriculture Nizar Hani, accompanied by UN coordinator Imran Riza, visited the border area to assess the damage firsthand.

Hani affirmed that “the state is steadfast in its support for the south, given its fundamental role in national agricultural production.”

He pledged that the ministry “will adopt a gradual and comprehensive approach in supporting farmers affected by Israeli attacks, leading to the rehabilitation of fields and orchards and the restoration of the entire production cycle, in close cooperation with the UN.

“Farmers in the south are the first line of defense for Lebanon’s food security. It is our duty to stand by them.”