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CV NEWS FEED // Wars on the border of Lebanon and Israel are causing Christian olive farmers in southern Lebanon to fear for their lives and livelihoods, AsiaNews recently reported.
Israeli raids and bombings have reportedly begun to intensify, worrying farming villages that are beginning to prepare for their autumnal olive harvest.
One farmer, who requested to remain anonymous, told AsiaNews that he had to leave his home due to the raids, but is currently planning to return for six to eight weeks to brave the danger and harvest his olives.
“[T]he brutality of the Israeli army knows no bounds,” he told AsiaNews. “The other day, they bombed a Civil Defense fire pump that was fighting a blaze in an olive grove, killing the three men operating it.”
He added that the dangers of working in the olive grove have made it more difficult to hire workers, meaning that prices of the olives will skyrocket.
The farmer told AsiaNews that his grove has luckily not been contaminated by the bombings, but said that bombs have negative effects in other areas.
“[I]t seems that all those who leave their homes momentarily find them infested with rodents and insects. We were told that it is because the bombings crack the soil and dislodge them (the animals) from their nests and burrows,” he said.
AsiaNews reported that southern Lebanon’s olive groves produce between 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes of olives, with 70% meant for olive oil use, per year.
