BEIRUT — Lebanon’s forests, farmland, and green expanses are once again under siege. The recent wave of wildfires sweeping across the country recalls the devastation of 2010, when hundreds of hectares of pine and oak vanished in smoke and ash.

Nearly 30 simultaneous fires have erupted, and over 7,700 incidents have been recorded this season alone, raising urgent questions about accountability. Beyond local negligence, all signs point to the deliberate hand of the Israeli enemy in igniting fires across southern regions — Al-Aishiya, Jarmaq, Reyhan, and Aramta — turning the natural landscape into a battlefield.

This is no ordinary aggression. The targeting of forests and fertile land represents a calculated assault on Lebanon’s environmental, food, and water security. The aim is not merely to scorch trees but to undermine resilience, weaken communities, and sow long-term vulnerability.

These fires are not accidents. They are the continuation of a policy repeated over years, a methodical campaign that has already destroyed thousands of hectares of productive land, forest, and grasslands in recent years. The scars on Lebanon’s ecosystem are enduring, leaving communities exposed to the next natural or human-made catastrophe.

While human negligence accounts for many fires, the Israeli enemy’s intervention amplifies the crisis, especially amid extended droughts and delayed rainfall. Regions such as Akkar, Mount Lebanon, and Nabatieh are particularly exposed, teetering on the edge of ecological collapse.

Notably, the fires erupted merely a day after Lebanese Forces MP Ghada Ayoub publicly alleged that Hezbollah was storing weapons within those forests, a claim that coincided suspiciously with the sudden outbreak of blazes.

Environmental experts warn that deliberate fires diminish vegetation cover, reduce biodiversity, and erode forests’ capacity to absorb carbon — further deepening the climate crisis that threatens Lebanon and the region alike.

Lebanon’s response must be comprehensive. Civil defense requires strengthening, public awareness must expand, and monitoring systems must be modernized. Yet the ultimate responsibility rests with the state and municipalities: to safeguard lands, enforce preventive measures, and prepare emergency plans capable of withstanding external aggression.

The fires set by the Israeli enemy are a dual threat — military and environmental. They do not merely burn land; they attack livelihoods, food security, economic stability, and the very backbone of the nation’s resilience.

Lebanon faces an urgent imperative: to protect its land, its communities, and its future. A national strategy must combine vigilance, forest conservation, and coordinated civil and governmental action. In defending the green heart of Lebanon, the country defends its sovereignty, its people, and the fragile life of its homeland.