BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Environment Ministry is seeking to reduce the risk of recurrent forest fires and their severity through an updated national strategy, which was launched on Wednesday.
Nasser Yassin, caretaker minister of environment, said that work was being carried out “under financially, administratively, and politically unfavorable conditions” to reduce the risk of forests and woodlands catching on fire.
Yassin pointed out that the success of the strategy, however, is based on the cooperation of “local people who are proud of their areas, environment, and the health of their sons and daughters.”
The awareness-raising work, he said, has brought “people closer to their environment.”
He referred to “the launch of an emergency fund to support firefighting efforts,” and said: “We are working on developing its law and management methods with the World Bank.”
Yassin added: “There is also a project worth $4.5 million, a gift from the Global Environment Facility, to support the efforts of local communities and regional groups to enhance their readiness and preparedness to reduce the risks of fires and extinguish them.”
Melanie Hauenstein, resident representative of the UN Development Program in Lebanon, said: “Forest fires are not only an environmental concern, but their impact is also noticeable in many other sectors.”
Hauenstein added: “The UN program has equipped dedicated operations rooms in the Lebanese provinces with the necessary tools and supplies to ensure their proper functioning in the event of forest fires and other crises. We have supported the establishment of specially trained first responder teams to deal with forest fires and equipped them with the necessary tools and equipment.”
She said that she, in cooperation with the UK ambassador, the social affairs minister, and the director-general of civil defense, opened a civil defense facility in Jezzine two days ago. This facility, she added, “aims to protect the beautiful pine forests in Jezzine and is the largest of its kind in the Middle East.”
She stressed that protection of the forests “directly benefits 300 Lebanese families who own pine trees, 40 farmers and their families who invest in collecting and processing pine, 120 workers in the pine industry, and 65 civil defense and volunteer personnel.”
Forest fires have not spared any Lebanese region from damage to pine and fruit trees, including the regions of North Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, and South Lebanon.
The environment ministry proposed to the previous parliament the establishment of a strategy to manage the resources resulting from the quarry and crusher sector and a new legislative framework for it, but it was never implemented.
According to the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon, approximately 14,460 forest fires have been recorded in the past five years, resulting in the loss of thousands of hectares of forest cover in Lebanon.
Brig. Gen. Raymond Khattar, director-general of the Lebanese Civil Defense, said: “Rapidly changing weather patterns may make conditions favorable for forest and vegetation fires. However, this does not rule out the possibility of further intentional arson, which has been indicated by repeated signs of deliberate ignition, or what has become known as purposeful fires.”
The impact of climate change is not the only thing that has marred Lebanon’s natural beauty.
The directorate of geographical affairs in the army conducted a survey two years ago, covering over 80 percent of quarry and crusher sites operating without permits or with permits obtained through the intervention of powerful forces in Lebanon or as a result of collusion in facilitating and organizing violations.
The survey revealed “huge excesses in terms of depth,” with some excavations reaching a depth of 70 meters, as well as distortions and mountain cutting amounting to hundreds of meters in height.
The affected areas across all Lebanese lands reached approximately 65 million square meters, distributed among 1,356 quarries, crushers, and excavators.
The governorate of Mount Lebanon ranked first in terms of the area and number of quarries and crushers, especially in the districts of Aley, Metn, Jbeil, and Kesrouan, where the affected areas exceeded 15 million square meters.
Lebanon launches strategy to control forest fires
https://arab.news/y5u45
Lebanon launches strategy to control forest fires
- Nasser Yassin, caretaker minister of environment, said that work was being carried out “under financially, administratively, and politically unfavorable conditions”
- Forest fires have not spared any Lebanese region from damage to pine and fruit trees
Lebanon hopes for neighborly relations in first message to new Syria government
- Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria’s ousted President Bashar Assad through years of war
- Syria’s new Islamist de-facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders
DUBAI: Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria’s ousted President Bashar Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel – a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.
Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, Islamist militants captured the capital Damascus.
Syria’s new Islamist de-facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.
Iraqi intelligence chief discusses border security with new Syrian administration
BAGHDAD: An Iraqi delegation met with Syria’s new rulers in Damascus on Thursday, an Iraqi government spokesman said, the latest diplomatic outreach more than two weeks after the fall of Bashar Assad’s rule.
The delegation, led by Iraqi intelligence chief Hamid Al-Shatri, “met with the new Syrian administration,” government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi told state media, adding that the parties discussed “the developments in the Syrian arena, and security and stability needs on the two countries’ shared border.”
Israeli minister’s Al-Aqsa mosque visit sparks condemnation
- Ben Gvir has repeatedly defied the Israeli government’s longstanding ban on Jewish prayer at the site in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM: Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday, triggering angry reactions from the Palestinian Authority and Jordan accusing the far-right politician of a deliberate provocation.
Ben Gvir has repeatedly defied the Israeli government’s longstanding ban on Jewish prayer at the site in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews and has been a focal point of tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I went up to the site of our temple this morning to pray for the peace of our soldiers, the swift return of all hostages and a total victory, God willing,” Ben Gvir said in a message on social media platform X, referring to the Gaza war and the dozens of Israeli captives held in the Palestinian territory.
He also posted a photo of himself on the holy site, with members of the Israeli security forces and the famed golden Dome of the Rock in the background.
The Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City is Islam’s third-holiest site and a symbol of Palestinian national identity.
Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is also Judaism’s holiest place, revered as the site of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Under the status quo maintained by Israel, which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.
Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their future capital, while Israeli leaders have insisted that the entire city is their “undivided” capital.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it “condemns” Ben Gvir’s latest visit, calling his prayer at the site a “provocation to millions of Palestinians and Muslims.”
Jordan, which administers the mosque compound, similarly condemned what its foreign ministry called Ben Gvir’s “provocative and unacceptable” actions.
The ministry’s statement decried a “violation of the historical and legal status quo.”
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief statement that “the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed.”
UN force sounds alarm over Israeli ‘destruction’ in south Lebanon
- Under the ceasefire agreement, UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese army were to redeploy in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border, as Israeli forces withdrew over 60 days
BEIRUT: The United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon expressed concern on Thursday at the “continuing” damage done by Israeli forces in the country’s south despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah.
The truce went into effect on November 27, about two months after Israel stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza.
The warring sides have since traded accusations of violating the truce.
Under the ceasefire agreement, UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese army were to redeploy in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border, as Israeli forces withdrew over 60 days.
UNIFIL said in a statement on Thursday that “there is concern at continuing destruction by the IDF (army) in residential areas, agricultural land and road networks in south Lebanon.”
The statement added that “this is in violation of Resolution 1701,” which was adopted by the UN Security Council and ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006.
The UN force also reiterated its call for “the timely withdrawal” of Israeli troops from Lebanon, and “the full implementation of Resolution 1701.”
The resolution states that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah exerts control, and also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Lebanese territory.
“Any actions that risk the fragile cessation of hostilities must cease,” UNIFIL said.
On Monday the force had urged “accelerated progress” in the Israeli military’s withdrawal.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday “extensive” operations by Israeli forces in the south.
It said residents of Qantara fled to a nearby village “following an incursion by Israeli enemy forces into their town.”
On Wednesday the NNA said Israeli aircraft struck the eastern Baalbek region, far from the border.
Syria forces carry out operation against pro-Assad ‘militias’: state media
- Operation had already succeeded in ‘neutralizing a certain number’ of armed men loyal to Assad
DUBAI: The new Syrian military administration announced on Thursday that it was launching a security operation in Tartous province, according to the Syrian state news agency.
The operation aims to maintain security in the region and target remnants of the Assad regime still operating in the area.
The announcement marks a significant move by the new administration as it consolidates its authority in the coastal province.
The operation had already succeeded in “neutralizing a certain number” of armed men loyal to toppled president Bashar Assad, state news agency SANA reported said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor has reported several arrests in connection with Wednesday’s clashes.
Further details about the scope or duration of the operation have not yet been disclosed.
