‘Israel’ destroys Lebanese chef’s 10,000-square-meter orchard

• The land contained fruit trees, vegetables, citrus crops and olive trees.
• His family restaurant, Arsh al-Muluk, in Wadi al-Hujair was destroyed in an ‘Israeli’ airstrike in June.
• His tourism project, Buyut al-Muluk, was destroyed in another ‘Israeli’ strike in September before opening.

Lebanese chef and content creator Husen Fayyad said Sunday that an ‘Israeli’  strike hit his agricultural orchard in southern Lebanon, the latest in a series of losses that have included his family’s restaurant and a tourism project that had yet to open.

In an Instagram story, Fayad said the orchard covers roughly 10,000 square meters and contains fruit trees, vegetables, citrus crops and olive trees. He wrote of the years he spent cultivating the land, tending its trees and waiting on each harvest, describing a property that represented years of work and investment.

The orchard is the third of Fayad’s properties to be hit. His family restaurant, Arsh al-Muluk (Throne of Kings), in Wadi al-Hujair, was destroyed in an ‘Israeli’ airstrike in June. In September, another ‘Israeli’ strike destroyed Buyut al-Muluk (Houses of Kings), a tourism venture that had not yet welcomed its first guests.

Southern Lebanon has come under repeated ‘Israeli’ strikes that have damaged homes, farmland and businesses, displacing residents and hitting an area where agriculture, particularly olives and citrus, is a main source of income. Farmers have often been unable to reach their land or harvest their crops safely. 

Read more: Netanyahu’s party claims “dark cloud hangs over” election results in ‘Israel’