For generations, the olive harvest in southern Lebanon began with a familiar routine: walking into the grove, inspecting the trees and preparing to pick.
This year, for some farmers, even reaching their trees has become a challenge.
In the southern Lebanese village of Kfarchouba, 60-year-old Jamal Issa has spent days looking at his olive trees from a distance, unable to reach them as the harvest season approaches.
“In most southern towns, the distance between a farmer and his olive grove is now measured in security procedures and risks on the ground,” the Lebanese farmer told Xinhua.
Following Israeli attacks and military operations in southern Lebanon, farmland that once sustained generations of families has become difficult or impossible to reach in some areas. Farmers whose groves lie near Israeli military positions face restrictions on access, while others have sought security clearances to harvest their crops.
Estimates from Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture and relevant security authorities indicate that about 53 percent of agricultural land in the southern and Nabatieh governorates became inaccessible to farmers at different periods because of security conditions.
In early October, Lebanon’s Agriculture Ministry said it was working with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and other parties to facilitate access to olive groves and secure the necessary permissions for harvesting.
Local media reports said some farmers in Deir Mimas, a town in the Nabatieh Governorate known for its olive groves and olive oil, had obtained permits. However, access remained extremely difficult or impossible for some groves inside the Yellow Line established by the Israeli army.
Houssam Hamdan owns a 15-dunum (1.5 hectares) olive grove inside the so-called “Yellow Line”, as well as another eight dunums near the border.
He told Xinhua that his losses have exceeded 35,000 U.S. dollars because he has been unable to reach much of his land.
As this year’s harvest season remains uncertain, the consequences may extend beyond a single season. Olive trees are perennial crops that require consistent care. Physical damage or prolonged neglect can have long-lasting effects.
Farmer Ferial al-Ghazi in Deir Mimas said the real loss was not simply the olives left unpicked, but the inability to care for the trees themselves.
“The land that cannot be reached gradually becomes a burden instead of a source of livelihood,” al-Ghazi said.
Jean Jabbour, a farmer from the southern Lebanese town of Mazraat Sarada, is still waiting for security arrangements to allow him to reach his land.
For him, the hardship goes beyond the loss of a season’s income. It means being separated from land his family inherited and from trees that have endured years of hardship.
“The trees that survived bulldozing and fires, and that are still heavy with olives, are waiting to be harvested. The timing is no longer in the hands of their owners,” Jabbour said. ■