Environmental and health concerns are numerous: fires that caused extensive air pollution, sea pollution, the destruction of homes and factories and the chemicals released, the long-term effects of war on rural communities and their relations with surrounding nature… Let’s try to asses the toll.

The strikes at the Jiyyeh power station and Beirut Airport’s fuel depots started fires that fumed endlessly for 3 weeks, spewing smoke packed with chemicals into the air. These chemicals, which accumulate in the body, can result in cancer, hormonal imbalance and breathing problems. 10 to 15 thousand tons of oil spilt into the sea when the storage tanks at Jiyyeh power plant were bombed. This oil spill has wider implications as it may impact underground and surface water supplies, coastal contamination and the health and fertility of the soil. The toxic spray that resulted from this oil spill has class 1 carcinogens which will pose a long-term health treat to much of the local population. These chemicals and toxins are ingested by marine life which are in turn eaten by people and build up in the body.

The water around Jiyyeh wasn’t the only part to be hit by the Israeli wave. In August the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) deemed the Ouzai Habour to be the most polluted and devastated. Approximately 12,000 fishermen have suffered because of the war which has stripped them of their livelihood. Canadian funding is supporting the cleaning process but it may take up to a year for the pollution to clear…and who knows how long before the fishermen can get back on their feet.