Ecological War: The Environmental Cost of Hezbollah’s Missiles and UAVs on Northern Israel
“From the very beginning of the war, we suffered from relatively large fires in the Rosh Hanikra forest, where 1,400 dunams burned, and around 500 acres burned in the Ramot Naftali forest. These were the first fires we had,” says Sheli Ben Yishai, director of the northern region of the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF).
Firefighters, with the assistance of the aerial firefighting unit, handled and are handling all the fires. Fire and Rescue Authority Commissioner Eyal Casspi instructed at the beginning of the war to prepare for all scenarios. The Authority also recruited emergency standby squads throughout the country, training and equipping them to help in the event of fires.
“In a general assessment, regarding KKL-JNF territories, since the beginning of the war, we are talking about 13,000-14,000 dunams of forests that have burned,” Ben Yishai said.
The damage, Ben Yishai pointed out, is to an entire ecosystem: “It’s also the vegetation of the grove and the forest that burned at different intensities, and there are also reptiles, mammals, and other animals inside the forest. I think there is significant damage there, and the restoration will be long-term.”
The recent fires also caused extensive damage to farmers. “This is the first time we have encountered such a scale of damage. This is more damage than the fires caused during the Second Lebanon War. There was also damage then, but not on such a scale,” said Segev Yerbam, CEO of the Galilee Development Company. (JPost / VFI News)
“Our Heavenly Father, we pray in Yeshua’s name that You protect the beautiful land You have entrusted us with from any type of damage and fires so that it continues displaying Your glory. We also pray for all the animals that have found their home in the forests, and we pray that their population will be restored and they will be able to continue living in their natural habitat without facing extinction in our region.”