Lebanon accuses ‘Israel’ of committing environmental crime
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday accused Israeli occupying regime 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 as cited by Middle East Eye.
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.
Meanwhile, the 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.
MNA
