According to the “Daily Star”, Forest Fires raged in the Jbeil and Kesrouan regions of Kartaba and Yahshoush on Monday, with firefighters still struggling to contain the blazes late into the evening.

Brigadier Darwish Hobeika, head of the Civil Defense, said on Monday that Cyprus dispatched a helicopter that could carry up to five tons of water to help Lebanese teams in combating the fires which started on Friday.

It is worth noting that no national fire management strategy exists in Lebanon. Last summer, 4,700 hectares of forest were destroyed in fires across the country. Moreover, last month, massive fires broke out between the towns of Souk al-Gharb and Aley, southeast of Beirut.

On his turn, Jawad Bou Ghanem, an expert in forest fires with the Association for Forests, Development and Conservation, told The Daily Star in an interview last month that the most probable cause of summer fires was "neglect," but said that other possible causes exist, confirming that the weather alone is never the main reason of fire but it is rather the combination of weather and wind.

Finally, it is crucial to note that major fires broke out in Qabr Chamoun and Aramoun today in the morning. Brigadier Hobeika confirmed that these fires were intentionned.