Scorching the Monk Forest: Israel's ecocide in southern Lebanon

"Harj al-Raheb, or the Monk Forest, lies on the southern edge of Ayta ash-Shaab, a Lebanese village right on the border with Israel. Its 16 hectares (40 acres) are made up of two adjoining woodland areas, known locally as the Southern and Western Hima, that once enjoyed a degree of protection for their ecological richness and cultural value. In early October 2023, these slopes were still thick with oak, carob, terebinth, and bay trees."

"Locals used the small black terebinth seeds to make a local bread, while the bay leaves were pressed to extract oil and produce a traditional soap known for its quality. Low shrubs and wildflowers filled the undergrowth and the open patches. The flowers supported a thriving beekeeping trade, which grew after 2019, when Lebanon's financial crisis deepened and many families turned to it as a secondary source of income."

"The local environment, however, was unable to withstand Israel's war on Lebanon. A year of relentless attacks, particularly in the border area, only ended with a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024. But Israel continues to attack on a regular basis and occupies some areas on the border. Away from the human toll of those attacks more than 4,000 Lebanese have been killed Harj al-Raheb and its surrounding areas are ghosts of what they once were."

Harj al-Raheb (the Monk Forest) is a 16-hectare woodland on the southern edge of Ayta ash-Shaab, bordering Israel, comprising two adjoining Hima areas formerly protected for ecological and cultural value. The slopes once held oak, carob, terebinth and bay trees, whose seeds and leaves supported traditional foods, oil, soap production, and a thriving beekeeping trade that grew after Lebanon's 2019 financial crisis. A year of intense Israeli air attacks, shelling and occasional occupation through 2024 left burned orchards, cleared trees, diminished pollinators such as the Palestine sunbird, and devastated local livelihoods and biodiversity. Residents returning have found ghostly landscapes and loss of income.

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