22% of Lebanon's crops damaged by Israeli attacks

BEIRUT / ISTANBUL

Lebanon’s Agriculture Ministry said Saturday that 22% of the country’s cultivated land has been damaged by ongoing Israeli attacks since March 2.

In its first weekly report since the escalation began, the ministry said about 46,479 hectares of agricultural land, equivalent to 22% of total cultivated areas, have been affected.

Most of the damage was recorded in the South and Nabatieh governorates, with 44,297 hectares affected, compared with 2,181 hectares in other regions.

Fruit trees and olive groves, as well as greenhouses and small- and medium-sized farms were affected the most.

The report warned that widespread displacement increases the risk of food insecurity, amid disruption of the farming cycle and loss of labor.

It also recorded the loss of about 49% of beehives and 39% of fish stocks, along with varying losses in cattle, sheep and poultry.

*Writing by Khaled Badr in Istanbul