Samples show Israel sprayed herbicide in border areas

Beirut accused Israel of spraying the herbicide glyphosate on the Lebanese side of their shared border, with President Joseph Aoun decrying a "crime against the environment".

After collecting samples following the recent spraying, the agriculture and environment ministries said some of them showed concentrations of glyphosate "20 to 30 times higher than the average" in the area.

In a joint statement, they expressed worries about "damage to agricultural production" and soil fertility.

More than a year after a ceasefire was struck to end a war with Israel, border areas in Lebanon remain largely deserted and Israel continues to carry out regular air strikes in the south.

Aoun denounced Wednesday the spraying as a "flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime against the environment and health".

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Monday that it had been notified by Israel of its plans to spray a "non-toxic chemical substance" near the border and warned to take shelter.

The spraying forced UNIFIL to "cancel over a dozen activities".

"This is not the first time that the IDF (Israeli army) has dropped unknown chemical substances from airplanes over Lebanon," it said, calling the operation "unacceptable".

The Lebanese foreign ministry said it intended to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council.