Concerns persist over herbicide spraying reports on Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel

The development poses a “serious humanitarian risk” to civilians living there, maintained the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefing journalists in Geneva.

“The use of herbicides raises questions about the effects on local agricultural lands and how this might impact the return of civilians to their homes and livelihoods in the long term,” said Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the UN Information Service in Geneva.

Reiterating remarks made by the UN Spokesperson in New York on Thursday, Ms. Vellucci highlighted the obligations of all parties under international humanitarian law. “Any activity by the [Israel Defense Forces] IDF north of the Blue Line is a violation of resolution 1701,” she told journalists.

OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan insisted that the reports required deeper investigation “to confirm the nature of the chemical substances” that had been used. “Attacks on farmland and water sources poses a serious…humanitarian risk,” he said.

Reports attributed to the Lebanese authorities indicate that the herbicide is glyphosate, and that samples taken from the sprayed areas where there is dense vegetation showed concentrations at 20 to 30 times the recommended level.

Occupied West Bank warning

The UN human rights official also expressed deep concern at developments in the occupied West Bank, warning that new Israeli operations and settlements risk undermining a viable Palestinian state.

Since last year, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced across the occupied West Bank.

This includes three refugee camps impacted by Israel’s militarised “Iron Wall” operation which uprooted more than 32,000 people from the camps of Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams. 

They are still unable to return home, and many have had their houses destroyed by Israeli forces, Mr. Al-Kheetan said.

New Israel security operations impacting Palestinians have included a campaign in occupied East Jerusalem, including at least two major operations targeting two Palestinian communities, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. 

“In the Shu’fat refugee camp, they raided dozens of homes and shops, detained at least 25 Palestinians, confiscated goods, and seized 10 private vehicles,” Mr. Al-Kheetan explained. 

“In another large-scale operation, targeting Kafr Aqab neighbourhood and the boundaries of Qalandiya refugee camp, Israeli security forces reportedly demolished 70 Palestinian structures. This appears to be in preparation for major settlement projects in the area.”

This is in addition to “relentless violence” by Israeli settlers against Palestinians – “with the support and participation of Israeli security forces”, the UN human rights office said, maintaining that Israeli settlements are expanding “at previously unseen pace” in breach of international law.

OHCHR said that in December, the Israeli authorities sought tenders for the construction of more than 3,000 settlement units in the area between three of the most significant Palestinian urban centres: East Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem. 

Responding to a question about the Israeli “E1 plan” that would reportedly separate the northern and southern West Bank from East Jerusalem, Mr. Al-Kheetan warned that it “risks separating Palestinian communities from each other and thus affecting seriously the viability of a Palestinian state…the bottom line is that all settlements must be evacuated and the settlement activity must stop.”