Lebanese farmers demand action after smuggled Syrian onions flood market

Ibrahim Tarshishy, head of the Bekaa Farmers Association, at a farm in Rayak, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, May 10, 2021. (Reuters)
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Updated 08 August 2023
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Lebanese farmers demand action after smuggled Syrian onions flood market

  • Lebanon’s agricultural sector is under severe strain, and farmers are struggling to survive amid an economic crisis
  • Despite the Lebanese economy’s need for agriculture, farmers say the sector is neglected by the state

BEIRUT: Lebanese farmers have raised concerns over dumping after huge quantities of smuggled Syrian onions appeared on the Lebanese market at prices lower than local offerings.

The farmers are demanding that Lebanese customs authorities pursue the smugglers.

Ibrahim Tarshishi, head of the Bekaa Farmers Association, told Arab News: “The Lebanese customs cooperated with us and began confiscating the smuggled goods, but the matter will not stop. Soon, Syrian potato products will be smuggled.

“The regions of Tripoli and Akkar in northern Lebanon live on vegetables and fruits smuggled from Syria, and no one pursues the smugglers. However, when it comes to flooding the Lebanese market with smuggled Syrian goods, the matter cannot be tolerated.”

Lebanon’s agricultural sector is under severe strain, and farmers are struggling to survive amid an economic crisis exacerbated by the collapse of the national currency and a doubling of the cost of production and farm tools since 2019. Farmers are also suffering the effects of a ban on exports to Arab markets that was enacted following a diplomatic crisis with Gulf states.

“There are 200 tons of onions a day which are pumped into the Lebanese market at cheap prices,” Tarshishi said. “Vegetable wholesalers get smuggled onions delivered. This is not permissible in our markets, especially since the onion season production is not exported to any country. It is sold where it is produced because countries have become self-sufficient in this product. We have 25,000 tons of onions to sell in Lebanon until April 1. We will not let farmers cry for their hard work, loss and indifference of state officials.”

The Lebanese agricultural sector represents 7 percent of gross domestic product and is the third largest sector after services and industry. Agriculture provides an income for about 15 percent of the population, including 250,000 families.

About 60 percent of Lebanon’s land is arable, but only 20 percent is cultivated. There are large areas of agricultural land on which houses and buildings are built, especially in the fertile Bekaa Valley.

Despite the Lebanese economy’s need for agriculture, farmers say the sector is neglected by the state, with citizens suffering from high prices of vegetables and fruits as a result.

Even before 2019, Lebanese farmers complained of an inability to pay costs, although the state provided them with soft loans and subsidized exports, as well as opened markets, Tarshishi said. Saudi Arabia was also open to Lebanese imports.

But following this year’s harvest, the state is absent, loans are unavailable, markets are closed, farmers’ funds are frozen and smuggling crossings are open, he added.

It is estimated that more than 50 percent of farmers in Lebanon have given up investing in the agricultural sector due to a lack of liquidity.

Farmers were previously encouraged to grow soft wheat, which is used to make Arabic bread. The state pledged to buy the wheat from farmers instead of importing it with hard currency. But farmers say that that call was a “big lie.”

Tarshishi said: “There are about 30,000 tons of soft wheat stacked in farmers’ warehouses, with a value of more than $20 million. Farmers do not know how to sell this production.

“Lebanese mills refused to buy national wheat because they prefer to buy state-subsidized wheat through the World Bank because the price per kilo is 3,000 Lebanese pounds ($0.20), while the price per kilo of national wheat is 30,000 Lebanese pounds ($2).

“Mills preferred cheaper wheat while the state transferred dollars to foreign countries to buy wheat. It is a policy with the utmost irresponsibility.”

Farmers in the Bekaa Valley are turning to alternative crops, Tarshishi said.

“Because of smuggling and neglect, we started thinking outside of tradition. We started growing dozens of varieties of grapes in large quantities to sell them in traditional and non-traditional markets,” he added.

“We now have markets in Africa, Australia, Brazil and the Near East. As for potatoes, we also moved toward the type that can be frozen to make chips and French fries, and production exceeded 60,000 tons.”

In southern Lebanon, according to Tarshishi, “farmers uprooted the citrus trees that the southern coast of Lebanon is famous for and turned to banana cultivation. However, they faced difficulty this year in selling the production.”

Markets are also selling lychee fruits farmed in Lebanon after the success of avocado and kiwi cultivation. There are also attempts to cultivate Iranian saffron, sage and thyme.

Saffron cultivation is widespread in Iran, and a number of Lebanese farmers have begun to cultivate the spice in high mountainous areas such as Jabal Al-Rihan and Marjayoun.

“It is not an alternative agriculture, but rather an additional one,” said Qassim Hassan, an agricultural engineer. “There is a trend by a generation of new farmers for non-traditional, economically feasible agriculture.”

It takes four years to start producing saffron, which can fetch up to $8,000 per kilo.

Another alternative crop, sage, is used in the manufacture of medicines and medical products. Farmers export sage to Jordan and the US. Elham Mohammed Lubani, who works in agriculture with her husband Hosni Jaber, said: “Picking the sage plant from the banks of the Litani River and Beaufort Castle is popular. But this year the production was less because of the intense heat wave.

“This year, we collected about 180 kilos of this plant, and a merchant comes to the region, collects the crop, and then ships it to Jordan and other countries.”

The rain-fed sage is scattered in the valleys near the Litani River, but the plant is dwindling in quantity because of harvesting errors.

Other farmers have turned to planting thyme. Hassan said: “Farmers have now turned to blackberry cultivation, and it seems to be a successful experience. Others are cultivating new types of mushrooms. Most of these farmers are of the new generation; university graduates and their parents work in agriculture. Civil associations support them in their projects.”


Iran’s FM arrives in Istanbul for Arab League meeting

Updated 5 sec ago
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Iran’s FM arrives in Istanbul for Arab League meeting

  • The ministers were in Turkiye’s largest city on the eve of weekend gathering of the OIC
  • Some 40 top diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering

ISTANBUL: Iran’s foreign minister arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, Tasnim news agency reported, for a meeting with Arab League diplomats to discuss Tehran’s escalating conflict with Israel.

Around 40 diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes.

“The Foreign Minister arrived in Istanbul this morning to participate in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ meeting,” Tasnim reported.

It comes after Araghchi met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday.

“At this meeting, at the suggestion of Iran, the issue of the Zionist regime’s attack on our country will be specifically addressed,” said Iranian foreign Abbas Araghchi, according to the news agency.

Israel began its assault in the early hours of June 13, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, triggering an immediate retaliation from Tehran in the worst-ever confrontation between the two arch-rivals.

Earlier on Friday, Araghchi said Tehran was ready to “consider diplomacy” again only if Israel’s “aggression is stopped.”

The Arab League ministers are expected to release a statement following their meeting, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu said.


Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks

Updated 3 min 17 sec ago
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Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks

  • Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons

JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON: Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks early on Saturday, a day after Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear program while under threat and Europe tried to keep peace talks alive.

Shortly after 2:30 a.m. in Israel (2330 GMT on Friday), the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Interceptions were visible in the sky over Tel Aviv, with explosions echoing across the metropolitan area as Israel’s air defense systems responded.

22 arrested for links to Israeli spy services since start of conflict

Police in Iran’s Qom province said Saturday that 22 people “linked to Israeli spy services” had been arrested since June 13, Fars news agency reported.

“22 people were identified and arrested on charges of being linked to the Zionist regime’s spy services, disturbing public opinion, and supporting the criminal regime,” the agency stated, citing the head of police intelligence in Iran’s Qom province.

Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site targeted by Israel

Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site was targeted by Israel, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Saturday, adding that there was no leakage of hazardous materials.

At the same time, Israel launched a new wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites in Iran, the Israeli military said.

Sirens also sounded in southern Israel, said Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service. An Israeli military official said Iran had fired five ballistic missiles and that there were no immediate indications of any missile impacts.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Interceptions visible in skies over Tel Aviv

• Israel says it targeted Iranian missile storage, infrastructure

• Iran says no talks with US under 'Israeli aggression'

There were no initial reports of casualties.

The emergency service released images showing a fire on the roof of a multi-storey residential building in central Israel. Local media reported that the fire was caused by debris from an intercepted missile.

Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.

Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.

Its air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organization that tracks Iran. The dead include the military’s top echelon and nuclear scientists.

In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks, according to authorities.

Reuters could not independently verify casualty figures for either side.

Talks show little progress

Iran has repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv, a metropolitan area of around 4 million people and the country’s business and economic hub, where some critical military assets are also located.

Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets on Friday, including missile production sites, a research body it said was involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the US “until Israeli aggression stops”.

But he arrived in Geneva on Friday for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy.

US President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that he would take as long as two weeks to decide whether the United States should enter the conflict on Israel’s side, enough time “to see whether or not people come to their senses”, he said.

Trump said he was unlikely to press Israel to scale back its airstrikes to allow negotiations to continue.

“I think it’s very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.

The Geneva talks produced little signs of progress, and Trump said he doubted negotiators would be able to secure a ceasefire.

“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one,” Trump said.

Hundreds of US citizens have fled Iran since the air war began, according to a US State Department cable seen by Reuters.

Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the Security Council on Friday his country would not stop its attacks “until Iran’s nuclear threat is dismantled”.

Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the US might join the war.

Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation.

A senior Iranian official said that Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that it would reject any proposal that barred it from enriching uranium completely, “especially now under Israel’s strikes”.


Israel may have breached EU agreement, bloc’s foreign policy arm says

Updated 21 min 39 sec ago
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Israel may have breached EU agreement, bloc’s foreign policy arm says

  • EU-Israel pact requires “respect for human rights and democratic principles” for both sides
  • EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the review during a gathering in Brussels on Monday

BRUSSELS: The European Union’s diplomatic service said on Friday there were indications that Israel had breached its human rights obligations under the terms of a pact governing its ties with the bloc, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Citing assessments by independent international institutions, the European External Action Service said “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.”

The report comes after months of deepening concern in European capitals about Israel’s operations in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

“Israel’s continued restrictions to the provision of food, medicines, medical equipment, and other vital supplies affect the entire population of Gaza present on the affected territory,” the document said.

Palestinians try to get food at a charity kitchen providing hot meals in Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Asked about the EU review, an Israeli official called it “a one-sided report that exemplifies the double standards the EU uses toward Israel.”

Under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which came into force in 2000, the EU and Israel agreed that their relationship “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, announced in May that the bloc would examine whether Israel was complying with the terms of the pact, after over half of EU members backed the conducting of a review.

The report includes a section dedicated to the situation in Gaza, covering issues related to denial of humanitarian aid, attacks with a significant number of casualties, attacks on hospitals and medical facilities, displacement, and lack of accountability.

Mourners carry a body for burial outside al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, on June 20, 2025, after several Palestinians were killed as they reportedly headed to a food distribution centre in the war-stricken Gaza Strip. (AFP)

The report also looks at the situation in the West Bank, including settler violence.

The document relies on “facts verified by and assessments made by independent international institutions, and with a focus on most recent events in Gaza and the West Bank,” it said.

Israel has said that it respects international law and that operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the review during a gathering in Brussels on Monday. Member countries remain divided in their approach to Israel.

While some ministers could advocate for moving toward taking action based on the review, no concrete decisions are expected at Monday’s session.

Diplomats expect EU officials will reach out to Israel with the outcome of the review in an effort to influence it, and that ministers will return to the subject during a July meeting.


Morocco says 2024 ‘hottest year’ on record

Updated 21 June 2025
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Morocco says 2024 ‘hottest year’ on record

  • Moroccan climatologist Mohammed-Said Karrouk, who also heads Morocco’s National Future Planet Committee, warned that the kingdom’s geography and climate make it more vulnerable to temperature extremes

RABAT: The year 2024 was Morocco’s hottest on record, the North African country’s meteorological agency said on Friday, mirroring the record surface temperatures measured globally.
In an annual report, the agency said it recorded an average temperature anomaly of +1.49 degrees Celsius (+2.7 Fahrenheit) last year compared to the 1991-2020 period.
“The year 2024 stands out as the hottest ever recorded in Morocco,” it said, adding that every month in 2024, excluding June and September, had been hotter than the average for the 1991-2020 reference period.
Several cities broke daily heat records, with 47.6 degrees Celsius (117.7 Fahrenheit) in Marrakech and 47.7 degrees Celsius (117.8 Fahrenheit) in Beni Mellal in July last year, the agency said.
It also noted “an increase in thermal anomalies, particularly during the autumn and winter seasons.”
Morocco’s all-time heat record was set in August 2023, when temperatures hit 50.4 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in Agadir.
The country, which is enduring a seventh straight year of drought, registered an average rainfall deficit of -24.7 percent last year, the report said.
The agency said last year’s data reflected “an amplification of climate contrasts in Morocco, where prolonged droughts alternate with episodes of extreme precipitation.”
Torrential rains in September 2024 — causing floods and killing 18 people — “did not reverse the overall rainfall deficit,” it added.
Moroccan climatologist Mohammed-Said Karrouk, who also heads Morocco’s National Future Planet Committee, warned that the kingdom’s geography and climate make it more vulnerable to temperature extremes.
He said warming was now observed in all seasons.
“In autumn, lingering summer heat combined with gradually cooling temperatures favors violent downpours, which have become more dangerous due to excess humidity in the atmosphere,” he said.
“In winter, the heat originating mostly from warming tropical oceans now influences North Africa as well.”
A former member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Karrouk also warned of a recent intensification of the West African monsoon — a seasonal wind system that brings moist air from the Atlantic Ocean — which he linked to the deadly September floods.
He called for the construction of shelters to protect vulnerable populations and dams to capture water — a valuable resource with Morocco’s unrelenting drought.
Weather extremes have taken a toll on farming, a vital sector for Morocco which employs nearly a third of its active population and accounts for 12 percent of GDP.
Scientists say that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming and that they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.
Fuelled by human-driven climate change, 2024 was the warmest year on record globally — and 2025 is projected to rank among the top three.

 


Hundreds of US citizens left Iran in last week, State Department cable says

Updated 59 min 23 sec ago
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Hundreds of US citizens left Iran in last week, State Department cable says

  • Washington is looking at ways to potentially evacuate its citizens from Israel, but it has almost no way of assisting Americans inside Iran

WASHINGTON: Hundreds of American citizens have departed Iran using land routes over the past week since an aerial war between the Islamic Republic and Israel broke out, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters on Friday.
While many left without problem, “numerous” citizens had faced “delays and harassment” while trying to exit, the cable said. It said, without giving further details, that one unidentified family had reported that two US citizens attempting to leave Iran had been detained.
The internal cable dated June 20 underscores the challenge Washington is facing in trying to protect and assist its citizens in a country with which it has no diplomatic relations and in a war in which the United States may soon get involved.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The cable was first reported by The Washington Post.

HIGHLIGHTS

• US advises land exits via Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkey

• Some US citizens departing Iran faced problems, cable says

• Over 6,400 US citizens filled possible evacuation form in Israel

President Donald Trump and the White House said on Thursday he will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war. Trump has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting Washington might join the fighting on Israel’s side.
The air war began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran and has alarmed a region that has been on edge since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons, and said it struck Iran to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with its own strikes on Israel. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not.

POTENTIAL EVACUATION
The US State Department in a travel alert earlier on Friday urged its citizens wishing to depart Iran to use land routes via Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkiye. Iranian airspace is closed.
The US Embassy in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat has requested entry for over 100 American citizens, but the Turkmenistan government has yet to give its approval, the cable said.
The Islamic Republic treats Iranian-US dual citizens solely as nationals of Iran, the State Department emphasized.
“US nationals are at significant risk of questioning, arrest and detention in Iran,” the alert said.
Washington is looking at ways to potentially evacuate its citizens from Israel, but it has almost no way of assisting Americans inside Iran. The two countries have had no diplomatic ties since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Thursday said the administration was looking at different ways to get US citizens out.
“We’re working to get military, commercial, charter flights and cruise ships for evac,” he said in an X post, urging US citizens and green card holders to complete an online form.
As of Friday, more than 6,400 US citizens filled out that form for Israel, a separate internal department email seen by Reuters said. The form allows the agency to predict an approximate figure for potential evacuations.
“Approximately 300-500 US citizens per day would potentially require departure assistance,” said the internal email, also dated June 20 and marked “sensitive.”
The State Department does not have official figures but thousands of US citizens are thought to be residing in Iran and hundreds of thousands in Israel.
Israel’s strikes over the last week have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Israel says Iranian attacks have killed 24 civilians in Israel.
“The US Department of State received no reports of US citizen casualties in Israel or Iran,” the second email said.