Lebanon's Olive Harvest Under Fire: Farmers Navigate Drones and Warplanes Amidst Conflict

In the southern Lebanese village of Jebchit, near Nabatieh, a volunteer from Akkar province participated in an olive-picking initiative on October 11, 2026. This act of solidarity aimed to support local farmers whose livelihoods and crops have been severely impacted by the ongoing war. Khaled Farhat, a resident of Majdel Selm, typically tends to his approximately 200 olive trees in his spare time when not on duty as a school employee. However, reaching his grove, situated a mere 20-minute drive from the Israeli border, has become increasingly perilous due to the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. His town, Majdel Selm, is located just north of Israel’s “Yellow Line,” a demarcation zone where the Israeli military has been engaged in demolishing homes and local infrastructure.

To access his land, Farhat explained that he had to obtain permission through his local municipality, which then forwarded the request to the Lebanese Army. The army, in turn, coordinates with a mechanism established following the Tripartite Framework Agreement in June between the United States, Israel, and Lebanon. This agreement facilitates the issuance of permits for locals to access their olive groves.

Ramy Zurayk, a professor at the American University of Beirut specializing in landscape design and ecosystem management, suggested that the extensive damage to farms and buildings in southern Lebanon, coupled with movement restrictions, represents an Israeli effort to render the area “sterile.” Zurayk stated, “The Israeli project is to eliminate humans and living organisms from the land. They are doing this via a variety of methods, including destroying the habitat and the components of the landscape that provide life, which destroy the relationship between the people and this land.”

Many olive trees in the border regions have been burned or uprooted by Israeli bulldozers. Lebanon’s Environment Minister, Tamara Elzein, reported that over 16,000 hectares (approximately 40,000 acres) of land have been torched since Israel commenced its bombing campaign and subsequent invasion of Lebanon in October 2023, which included the use of white phosphorus. Israel continues to occupy nearly 630 square kilometers (243 square miles) of southern Lebanon, encompassing significant agricultural land and numerous villages. In areas where olive groves remain intact, Israel’s occupation has complicated the current harvest season. Farmers and landowners report working under the constant surveillance of Israeli drones and living with the pervasive fear of unexploded ordnance.

Farhat described the unnerving presence of drones, stating, “Drones are constantly in the sky. You look up and see one, two, three of them sometimes just moving back and forth.” He added, “Warplanes sometimes pass by and carry out strikes nearby, taking a toll on us psychologically and emotionally.”

Permission to Access Own Land

Israel has imposed stringent restrictions on Lebanese farmers’ access to their land, resulting in significant crop losses. Farhat mentioned being granted only a two-week window to work his land, and the neglect is already apparent. “Usually, there shouldn’t be any weeds. But since the time for tilling and clearing the land happened during our displacement, we weren’t able to clear it. The land remained as it was because we couldn’t reach it,” he explained. “We’re in the middle of the harvest now. If we manage to finish harvesting everything directly from the trees within this timeframe, then great. Otherwise, whatever remains will go unharvested.” The time required to clear weeds encroaches upon the limited harvesting period.

Furthermore, these weeds can conceal deadly dangers. Farmers and landowners have reported that working their land in the south is fraught with the risk of encountering unexploded ordnance, including cluster bombs. In early October, at least two individuals lost their lives in olive groves in south Lebanon. A retired soldier was killed by Israeli artillery fire in Yater village, Bint Jbeil district. Another young man, an engineer, died when Israeli ordnance exploded while he was harvesting olives in Froun, also in the Bint Jbeil district. The following day, a member of Lebanon’s police force was killed in an explosion while tending to farmland in Ain Ebel, a predominantly Christian village.

Hicham Hoteit, a journalist and olive farmer from Babliyeh, shared, “There is a constant fear of being targeted [by Israeli attacks], especially in areas near the sites of attacks, as well as the risk of encountering cluster bombs or other remnants of war, which pose a grave danger to human life.”

Explosives have been a persistent issue for farmers in southern Lebanon since the conclusion of the 2006 war, when Israeli forces reportedly scattered between 2.6 and four million submunitions from cluster bombs across the region, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Hiba Ghandour, Lebanon’s program manager for the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), highlighted, “One of the biggest challenges we’ve seen in southern Lebanon since the 2006 war is how long cluster munitions continue to affect people’s lives long after conflict has taken place. Millions of submunitions were scattered across the region, including farmland, and many failed to explode on impact. They were left hidden in fields, olive groves and orchards – many of which we are still clearing today.”

A 2022 report by the Lebanese Mine Action Center (LMAC) indicated that the government had announced significant progress in clearing contaminated land. Ghandour cited the report, stating, “The Lebanese government announced that only 5 million square meters of land remained contaminated with cluster munitions [18 percent of the baseline to be cleared]. Since October 2023, the situation has become more complex. The latest hostilities have added a new layer of explosive hazards.” Ghandour noted that MAG had identified 444,000 square meters of confirmed hazardous areas for farmers, a figure expected to rise as research continues.

Despite these dangers, Lebanon’s severe economic situation compels many Lebanese to work their lands out of necessity. Ghandour explained, “In our experience, clearing agricultural land is especially challenging, as the contamination can be concealed within vegetation or beneath soil, which takes us longer to clear. When people are under pressure to earn a living, they often feel they have no choice but to return to their land before it has been made safe, making clearance all the more challenging. Repeated bombardment has also damaged agricultural land and made it harder for our clearance teams to reach some of the communities most in need.”

Political analyst Bassel Doueik commented that many Lebanese citizens have faced harassment from Israeli forces and have been prevented from harvesting their olive trees. He cited the example of Kfarshouba, a predominantly Sunni border village, where approximately 200 Israeli soldiers reportedly entered and searched houses, while at least three Merkava tanks and other military vehicles were observed in the vicinity.

Hope for a Better Future

The extensive use of white phosphorus has raised concerns among some Lebanese regarding the safety of produce from the south. However, Zurayk, the AUB academic, clarified during a panel at his university on October 21 that these concerns were unfounded, citing a lack of evidence suggesting that olives or other produce from south Lebanon are dangerous to consume.

For many in Lebanon, the olive harvest is not only a crucial economic activity but also a cherished opportunity for family and community gatherings. This year, however, many with farmland in south Lebanon have stated they will have to leave their children and other relatives behind when they go to tend their crops due to the threat of Israeli attacks. Reflecting on the current harvest season in Majdel Selm, Farhat acknowledged the palpable dangers. “People hear that the situation is dangerous, they hear that there is shelling, but for someone who is actually in the midst of the shelling, or living under it, it is certainly a different experience,” he said. “The reality on the ground is something else entirely. Still, thank God, hopefully, this is just a phase that will pass. Hopefully, the situation will not escalate further and will begin to de-escalate and move towards something better.”