Fire near Lebanon pine forest 'not caused by Israeli strikes', did not harm forest

A fire in southern Lebanon earlier this week did not harm the Middle East’s largest pine forest and was not caused by Israeli strikes, contrary to initial reports.

Lebanon witnessed huge wildfires on Monday and into late Tuesday, which civil defence teams struggled to contain due to strong winds and rugged altitudes.

One of them were in the Jezzine district and multiple reports said a part of the Bkassine forest was on fire.

The largest productive pine forest in the Middle East, the forest covers between 220 and 300 hectares, but is still not classified as a natural reserve.

Videos and images of the fires were widely shared online, as people called on authorities to quickly work to extinguish the flames and protect what is left of the country’s woodlands.

But certified drone photographer Rami Rizk who is from Jezzine said those reports were either not true or exaggerated.

"First of all, Bkassine Forest is safe and the wildfire thankfully didn’t reach it. Second, the fire most likely started on private land before it spread," he wrote in a post shared on his social media.

He also clarified that the blaze was not the result of an Israeli strike as had been reported by some outlets – but Israeli attacks in the south did ignite fires elsewhere, on the outskirts of Jarmaq, Mahmoudiyeh, Al-Aishiyeh, and Al-Rihan.

"Finally, there were no Israeli strikes in the area even during last year’s war, it’s a safe region and will remain!" he wrote, in reference to the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire, Israel has continued to conduct near-daily strikes on parts of Lebanon, claiming to be targeting Hezbollah and vowing to keep the group weakened.

Speaking to The New Arab on Wednesday, Rizk said the fire began near the village of Aray which is close to Bkassine, adding that the flames began spreading toward the pine forest but didn’t reach it.

Rizk believes the fire was most likely a result of arson but said it "certainly wasn’t a strike," clarifying that attacks have not happened in that part of the Jezzine district.

He added that the fire near Bkassine was put out by Tuesday noon.

The Bkassine municipality has reportedly planned a reseeding campaign on 22 and 29 November to restore fire-damaged areas.

Elsewhere in Lebanon, scenes of massive wildfires which scorched swathes of land brought back bitter memories of the October 2019 distaster.

The Iqlim al-Kharroub region in Mount Lebanon’s Chouf district saw the inferno spread through forests in Chhim, Darayya, Mtolleh, Hasrout, and Zaarouriyeh.

Firefighters, backed by the Lebanese army, managed to contain the flames, and overhaul — the process of cooling smouldering areas — continued into Wednesday.

Most of Lebanon's pine forests were planted hundreds of years ago. But droughts, erratic rainfall, and rising temperatures triggered by climate change are making Lebanon’s ancient forests more vulnerable to fires and invasive pests.