Lebanon says 'toxic' chemical spray by Israel constitutes environmental crime

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday accused Israel of committing an environmental crime after Israeli forces sprayed a "toxic substance" over southern Lebanese towns. 

“This is an environmental and health crime against Lebanese citizens and their land,” Aoun was quoted as saying by Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Calling the move a “blatant violation” of Lebanon’s sovereignty, Aoun said that he ordered government agencies to take all diplomatic and legal measures to “respond to this aggression”. 

“These dangerous practices that target agricultural lands and the livelihoods of citizens and threaten their health and environment require the international community and relevant United Nations organisations to assume their responsibilities to stop these attacks,” Aoun said.

On Monday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said it received notice from the Israeli army of planned aerial activity near the Blue Line and was asked to remain inside shelters. 

Unifil said it was informed by the Israeli military that it would spray a “non-toxic chemical substance” from the air over areas near the border. 

Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that it had documented Israeli aircraft spraying chemical substances over extensive agricultural areas, particularly in the town of Ayta ash-Shaab and its vicinity in southern Lebanon.

"This raises the risk of consequences beyond immediate crop damage, posing a serious threat to the rights to health and a safe environment through potential long-term contamination of soil and water resources," the organisation said in a press release. 

"The deliberate targeting of civilian farmland violates international humanitarian law, particularly the prohibition on attacking or destroying objects indispensable to civilian survival," the organisation said.

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It added that the incident "cannot be viewed in isolation from the scorched-earth policy pursued by the Israeli army".

The deliberate targeting of the means of life violates the laws of war and appears intended to undermine the living security of residents in the south of Lebanon and render their areas uninhabitable, thereby forcibly displacing them, the statement added. 

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Tuesday that Unifil had to suspend its operations due to the attack, and the force later worked with the Lebanese army to collect samples of the sprayed substance to be tested for toxicity.

“Any activity that may put peacekeepers and civilians at risk is of serious concern,” Dujarric had said on Monday. “We reiterate our call on all parties to fully comply with their obligations under resolution 1701.” 

Lebanon’s Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani said that samples from several sites will be sent to specialised laboratories in Beirut for scientific testing, with additional samples to be sent to an EU-recognised laboratory in Greece.

Hani said that technical teams are examining the nature of the substances that may have been used, describing the spraying as part of military practices aimed at stripping surrounding areas of agricultural productivity and natural life.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024, but Israeli strikes in Lebanon have continued almost daily since then.