Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity Continue in Southern Lebanon

When the Land You Love is Turned Against You

For many families in Southern Lebanon, the land is not just dirt and rocks. It is a living member of the family. Abu Elias, a farmer whose hands are as weathered as the bark of his ancient olive trees, knows this better than anyone. His morning ritual usually involves the sweet scent of citrus and the quiet rustle of leaves.

But on a recent Sunday in February 2026, that peace was shattered by a low hum in the sky. As the planes passed, a heavy mist settled over his groves. It did not smell like life. It smelled like the end. Within hours, the silver-green leaves began to curl and turn black. This is the nightmare currently unfolding in the south. It is a story of where the very soil people need to survive is being used as a weapon of war.

Recent investigations, including reporting from The Guardian, have exposed a horrifying tactic. The Israeli military is accused of spraying cancer-linked herbicides over Lebanese farmland. This is not just about security. It is about making the land uninhabitable for generations to come.

A Toxic Legacy: The Chemical War on the Soil

The laboratory results from soil samples are devastating. The spray contains glyphosate, a chemical that the World Health Organization warns is "probably carcinogenic to humans."

What makes this even more sinister is the concentration. Samples showed levels 20 to 30 times higher than what is allowed in normal farming. This high-dose exposure creates a long-term horror for the families who call this land home:

• A Stolen Future: Glyphosate is directly linked to Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. By saturating the soil, they are poisoning the food and water that children will consume for years.
• Biological Damage: At these levels, the chemical acts as an endocrine disruptor. It interferes with human hormones and can cause permanent developmental issues.
• The Death of the Soil: This isn't just killing weeds. It is killing the microbial life in the earth. It "salts the earth" so that nothing can grow, effectively starving the community from the ground up.

Erasing the Map: The Systematic Destruction of Home

We are seeing a campaign to erase more than just buildings. It is about wiping out the very memory of these villages. Data from Amnesty International and the UN shows the heartbreaking scale of this destruction:

• The Ruins of a Life: In border villages like Yarine and Boustane, more than 70% of all homes and structures have been leveled.
• A People Uprooted: Over 1.2 million people have been forced to flee. When they try to return, they find their childhood homes in ruins and their family land poisoned.
• Blocking the Path Back: There have been documented strikes on the equipment needed to clear rubble and rebuild. The message to these families is clear: you are not allowed to come back.

Scorched Earth: The Reality of the 800°C Fire

This strategy is a page from a very dark history book. We saw the horrors of Agent Orange in Vietnam, where children are still born with birth defects 60 years later.

In Lebanon, they are combining these toxic chemicals with white phosphorus. This substance ignites on contact with air and burns at a staggering 800°C (1,472°F). That is hot enough to melt through metal and penetrate deep into human tissue. On the land, it bakes these chemicals into the soil, creating a toxic "dead zone" where life simply cannot persist.

A Moral Crisis: Demanding an End to Impunity

We are witnessing a moral catastrophe. When you level a village and then poison the ground it stood on, you are not fighting a war. You are committing a crime against humanity. The international community cannot stay silent while an entire way of life is systematically erased.

We must demand accountability. We must protect the right of families to live on their own land without the fear of being poisoned. Every ancient tree and every family home is a piece of our shared human history.

The era of impunity must end. This must stop.

-MunVaRay

References & Sources

• The Guardian: Israel accused of spraying cancer-linked herbicide on farms in southern Lebanon (Published Feb 5, 2026)
• World Health Organization (WHO): IARC Monographs Volume 112: Evaluation of five organophosphate insecticides and herbicides (Classification of Glyphosate as a probable carcinogen)
• Amnesty International: Evidence of White Phosphorus Use in Southern Lebanon (Detailed investigation into similar incident in 2023)
• Human Rights Watch: Israel: White Phosphorus Used in Gaza, Lebanon (Analysis of the legal implications and humanitarian impact)