BEIRUT, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Hassan Naim, a 60-year-old farmer displaced from the village of Rab El Thalathine in southeastern Lebanon to Rachaya el-Wadi in eastern Lebanon, used to harvest olives in his fields at this time of year.
However, for the second consecutive year, the joy of the harvest has been overshadowed by the sounds of shelling in southern Lebanon amid the ongoing escalation of the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.
"A long distance separates us from the olive fields and the seasonal blessings we used to anticipate each October," Naim said while sitting on a wooden bench in a classroom at the official high school in Rachaya el-Wadi.
"The armed confrontations and forced displacement have deprived farmers in border areas of their olive harvest, their main source of livelihood amid the worsening economic situation," he told Xinhua.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border have escalated since Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Hamas, displacing tens of thousands of Lebanese and disrupting agriculture in southern Lebanon.
Walid Daher, a farmer from the southeastern Lebanese town of Shebaa, said olives in border areas are a source of livelihood for more than 85 percent of local families, who rely on this "season of abundance" to meet urgent needs before winter.
"Olives protect farmers from poverty and provide them with oil, which is used in most dishes," he said.
Daher urged Lebanese authorities to exert maximum effort through international actors and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to establish a truce that would allow olive farmers in the border area to harvest this season.
Lebanese Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan told Xinhua that more than 50,000 olive trees were burned and thousands more damaged due to Israel's use of bombs.
He added that ongoing Israeli bombardment of the agricultural sector, particularly olive fields, has devastated farmers, who have lost two consecutive seasons, with many orchards destroyed.
According to the minister, once the conflict subsides, the ministry will assess the damage to the agricultural and livestock sectors, including the olive fields, which span approximately 120,000 dunams (about 30,000 acres) in southern Lebanon, in preparation for compensating the owners.
"The Lebanese government has notified the United Nations of the agricultural losses caused by Israeli bombing," he said.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, Lebanon has over 15 million olive trees, producing 150,000 to 250,000 tons of olives annually, which yields 15,000 to 25,000 tons of olive oil. Of this, approximately 5,000 to 8,000 tons are exported.
Nahida al-Zein, displaced from the southern village of Aitaroun to Joub Jannine in eastern Lebanon, told Xinhua that she inherited an olive grove from her father, which has about 100 mature trees producing around 30 cans of oil each year.
She used to send the oil to friends as gifts, but now she longs for just one bottle, which has become difficult to obtain.
"Now we use vegetable oil from donors instead of our southern olive oil, which won an award at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition in New York City," she said.
Farmer George Nehme from the southern town of Sarda said he hoped that the war would end soon, allowing him to return to his olive grove and rebuild what the "dirty" war destroyed. ■
