Lebanese farmers sow seeds for new cannabis growers’ syndicate

In this file photo, a man removes dirt and dry leaves in a cannabis field in the village of Yammoune, 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) northwest of the town of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. (AP)
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Updated 14 July 2020
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Lebanese farmers sow seeds for new cannabis growers’ syndicate

  • Ministers, MPs rumored to be buying agricultural land after law legalizes production for medical, industrial uses

BEIRUT: A group of Lebanese farmers have sown the seeds for the setting up of a growers’ syndicate for the production of cannabis plants.

The move to establish a founding committee of agricultural sector representatives followed a decision by the Lebanese Parliament in April to legalize the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes.

In doing so, Lebanon become the first Arab country to pass a law allowing the cultivation of the plant for specific non-recreational uses.  

Farmers from the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate in eastern Lebanon announced plans for the formation of the new committee during a press conference held at a tourist complex in the region.

Former president of the Tobacco Growers’ Association in Baalbek-Hermel, Ahmed Zaiter, told Arab News: “Through the founding committee that we intend to form from representatives of families in the region who work in agriculture in general, we wanted to move the law enforcement mechanism in preparation for obtaining licenses to start planting cannabis, knowing that there are those who grow hashish in the region and we do not yet know whether this plant is the same one that was legislated.”

The new Lebanese law will provide for the formation of a government-monitored regulatory body to manage the cultivation, production, and export of cannabis. The cultivation process produces the drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and industrially fibers from the plant can be used for making products such as clothes and cars.

A 2018 study by US consulting firm McKinsey and Co. estimated that Lebanon could generate $1 billion annually from legalizing cannabis cultivation.

Zaiter pointed out “the importance of the birth of a syndicate of cannabis growers to organize this cultivation, the need to grant licenses to farmers, start preparing for seed insurance, and receive this plant from the state.”

He added that farmers would be demanding that priority was given to the agricultural sector in the Bekaa Valley and the Baalbek-Hermel region and for the syndicate, when established, to join the Union of Agricultural Syndicates in Lebanon.

A body is to be set up to monitor and regulate all activities related to cannabis and its derivatives, including planting, cultivation, harvesting, production, possession, export, storage, marketing, and distribution.

Cannabis is known in the northern Bekaa as “green gold” and its cultivation was active during the civil war in the 1970s in remote areas of the region where armed mafias were formed to guard and smuggle it abroad.

During the early 1950s, about 300 tons of cannabis was produced every year in border regions between Lebanon and Syria.

Under international pressure, state agencies began the process of destroying cannabis crops in the 1990s.

During the press conference, farmers discussed claims circulated on social media that ministers and MPs had been buying agricultural land in the Baalbek-Hermel region.

Zaiter said: “These farmers have expressed their fear that the new owners aim to engage in this agriculture in the future and monopolize its production and sale.”

Baalbek official, Haider Shams, told Arab News that land purchases, especially in remote parts of the region, were on the rise. “The price of 1 meter ranges from $5 to $10. Many people are buying in Majdaloun and Taybeh, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the cultivation of cannabis.”

Zaiter said: “So far, none of the MPs who legislated the law know what kind of Indian hemp (cannabis) they allowed.

“One of the specialists showed us a plant with few green leaves, which is not the one grown by cannabis growers in Lebanon, which means that there are many types of this plant, and if the legalized plant is the one with few leaves, I do not think that anyone will accept its cultivation because it is a losing cultivation.”

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army Command announced on Monday that gunmen had killed one soldier during a dawn attack on an army patrol and military centers in Talia, Pretal, Al-Khader, and Douris.

The military has linked the raids to an incident the day before when fugitive Abbas Al-Masri fired shots into the air at an army checkpoint in Douris while trying to drive through. Checkpoint personnel shot and injured Al-Masri and a passenger in his vehicle and both casualties were transferred to a hospital in Baalbek for treatment.


Libya objects to Greek tender for hydrocarbon exploration off Crete

Updated 6 sec ago
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Libya objects to Greek tender for hydrocarbon exploration off Crete

Greece opposed the agreement, saying it had no legal basis
Last month Athens invited bidders for hydrocarbon exploration in two blocks south of Crete

TRIPOLI: Libya’s internationally recognized government of national unity has objected to Greece’s approval of an international tender for hydrocarbon exploration off the island of Crete, saying some of the blocks infringed upon its own maritime zones.

The two countries have been trying to mend relations strained by an accord signed in 2019 between the Libyan government and Greece’s regional rival Turkiye, which mapped out a sea area between them close to the Greek island.

Greece opposed the agreement, saying it had no legal basis as it sought to create an exclusive economic zone from Turkiye’s southern Mediterranean shore to Libya’s northeast coast, ignoring the presence of Crete.

Last month Athens invited bidders for hydrocarbon exploration in two blocks south of Crete following an expression of interest by US major Chevron.

Libya’s Tripoli-based foreign ministry said in a statement late on Thursday that some of the tendered sea blocks off Crete fell within disputed zones and were “a clear violation of Libya’s sovereign rights.”

The ministry objected “to any exploration or drilling activities in these areas without a prior legal understanding that respects the rules of international law,” it said, calling on Greek authorities to prioritize dialogue and negotiation.

Responding to questions at the Greek parliament, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said Greece was willing to discuss with Libya “the delimitation of maritime zones within the framework of international law.”

Gerapetritis is expected to visit Libya in the coming weeks, an official with the Greek foreign ministry told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Israeli defense minister warns Hezbollah against joining conflict with Iran

Updated 50 min 57 sec ago
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Israeli defense minister warns Hezbollah against joining conflict with Iran

  • Hezbollah has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting

JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel’s patience with “terrorists” who threaten it had worn thin.

The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called “brutal Israeli-American aggression” against Iran.

In other statements, the group has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting and a Hezbollah official told Reuters last week that the group did not intend to initiate attacks against Israel.


Gaza rescuers say 43 killed by Israeli forces

Updated 20 June 2025
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Gaza rescuers say 43 killed by Israeli forces

  • Civil defense official says 26 people killed while gathered near aid distribution center

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed at least 43 people on Friday, including 26 who had gathered near an aid distribution center, the latest in a string of deadly incidents targeting aid seekers in the Palestinian territory.
“Forty-three martyrs have fallen as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 26 of whom were waiting for humanitarian aid,” Mohammad Al-Mughayyir, director of medical supply at the civil defense agency in Gaza, told AFP.


UN warns of ‘disastrous consequences’ of escalating Sudan fighting

Updated 22 min 3 sec ago
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UN warns of ‘disastrous consequences’ of escalating Sudan fighting

  • “The recent fighting and grave risk of further aggravation in an already brutal and deadly conflict raise severe protection concerns,” Turk said
  • “For too long already, the world has witnessed the unbound horrors unfolding in Sudan”

GENEVA: The United Nations’ rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that escalating fighting in Sudan’s west and center risks aggravating harm to civilians and abuses, more than two years into the country’s war.

Turk in a statement warned of “the disastrous consequences stemming from ongoing and escalating hostilities” in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, “where civilian casualties, sexual violence, abductions and looting have been reported in multiple areas.”

“The recent fighting and grave risk of further aggravation in an already brutal and deadly conflict raise severe protection concerns, amid a pervasive culture of impunity for human rights violations,” Turk said.

The war since April 2023 pits Sudan’s army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, with both sides facing repeated accusations of human rights violations.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands and displaced 13 million, including four million who fled abroad, triggering what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“For too long already, the world has witnessed the unbound horrors unfolding in Sudan and the untold suffering of its people. Civilians must be protected at all costs. Violations and crimes must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible be held to account,” Turk said.

He pointed to a paramilitary attack on the long-besieged North Darfur state capital of El-Fasher “following months of increased mobilization of fighters, including the recruitment of children.”

Turk said this mirrors a previous offensive on a nearby displacement camp that “led to hundreds of civilian deaths, widespread sexual violence and a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Turk also said civilians were “trapped” in Dibeibat town in South Kordofan state as the warring sides fight to capture it, while the army-held city of El-Obeid in North Kordofan is “reportedly surrounded” by paramilitary forces.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration on Wednesday said more than 16,000 people had been displaced from areas hit by violence, including South Kordofan and Darfur.


Gaza faces a manmade drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says

Updated 20 June 2025
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Gaza faces a manmade drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says

  • “Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva
  • “We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten” said a father in Gaza

GENEVA: Gaza is facing a manmade drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations’ children agency said on Friday.

“Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

Israel is now channelling much of the aid into Gaza through a new US – and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which uses private US security and logistics firms and operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.

Israel has said it will continue to allow aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, while ensuring it doesn’t get to Hamas. Hamas denies seizing aid, saying Israel uses hunger as a weapon.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, called the current system for distributing aid “a disgrace & a stain on our collective consciousness,” in a post on X on Wednesday.

Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, displaced almost all the territory’s residents, and caused a severe hunger crisis.

The World Food Programme called on Wednesday for a big increase in food distribution in Gaza, saying that the 9,000 metric tons it had dispatched over the last four weeks inside Gaza represented a “tiny fraction” of what was needed.

“The fear of starvation and desperate need for food is causing large crowds to gather along well-known transport routes, hoping to intercept and access humanitarian supplies while in transit,” the WFP said in a statement.

“Any violence resulting in starving people being killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance is completely unacceptable,” it added.

Palestinians in Gaza have been closely following Israel’s air war with Iran, long a major supporter of Hamas.

“We are maybe happy to see Israel suffer from Iranian rockets, but at the end of the day, one more day in this war costs the lives of tens of innocent people,” said 47-year-old Shaban Abed, a father of five from northern Gaza.

“We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten.”