Lebanese Prime Minister: Environmental Losses from Israeli Attacks Exceed Half a Billion Dollars
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed that environmental losses resulting from Israeli attacks exceeded $512 million during 2023 and 2024.
Translated by Qiyas from كونا — Original source
Beirut, November 12 (KUNA) – Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam affirmed on Thursday that the environmental damage caused by Israeli occupation attacks, which constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, exceeds half a billion dollars.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office quoted Salam as saying during a speech at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Antalya, Turkey, that environmental losses surpassed $512 million in 2023 and 2024, “with additional losses incurred by Lebanon this year.”
Salam noted that “the impacts of environmental warfare far exceed these figures, as their scars will remain deep in ecosystems, livelihoods, and local communities for many years to come.”
He stressed that in Lebanon, “climate challenges cannot be separated from the repercussions of wars and economic collapse, nor from the arduous national task of recovery and reconstruction,” pointing out that years of financial crisis had weakened institutions and public facilities, while “successive wars caused widespread destruction affecting infrastructure, agricultural lands, forests, and ecosystems.”
He argued that “recovery cannot be limited to rebuilding homes and roads; it must also include the rehabilitation of agricultural lands, restoration of ecosystems, and revitalization of livelihoods.”
Salam emphasized that Lebanon reaffirms the necessity of environmental restoration and enhancing resilience to climate change as “an integral part of the reconstruction process, alongside achieving stability, restoring sovereignty, and respecting international law.”
The Lebanese Prime Minister stressed that national efforts, however significant, cannot alone overcome the structural and financial constraints facing a country striving to emerge from prolonged and successive crises and wars. He called for increased public funding, an enhanced role for grants, and the simplification of procedures for accessing existing financing mechanisms, taking into account the special circumstances of countries affected by crises. (End) A.Y.B. / T.M.A.
