Footage from January and February 2026 captures Israeli aircraft spraying herbicides over agricultural land in southern Syria. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to a farmer who described the significant losses resulting from these spraying operations.
Videos sent to our team show Israeli planes flying at a low altitude over farmland in late January and early February in Quneitra, southern Syria. Syrian farmers claim that the aircraft have been spraying chemicals over their crops.
These planes were all spotted over the buffer zone that separates Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. This zone is supposed to be demilitarised. However, since the fall of Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, the Israeli military has established bases there and even further inland.
Following these spraying operations, farmers say their crops turned yellow in just a few days. Local agricultural authorities report that hundreds of hectares have been affected, including fruit trees.
‘I lost 7.5 hectares of wheat’
We spoke with one local farmer who asked to remain anonymous.
“On January 27, 2026, Israeli aircraft conducted an extensive herbicide spraying operation. On February 5, 2026, the crops began to turn yellow and, on February 7, 2026, they started to wither.
Personally, I lost 7.5 hectares of wheat. I had purchased the seeds and farmed the land on credit. My creditors are now demanding their money, and the crops have been destroyed by the Israeli occupation.”
Israeli authorities have not responded to our requests for comment.
Similar spraying operations have also been reported in southern Lebanon.
Analysts believe this could be a move to stop vegetation from growing, which might otherwise provide cover for armed groups. Others say it could be an attempt to expand Israeli control over the border regions.
‘What Israel effectively has been doing is creating a dead zone’
By analysing satellite images, the NGO PAX has calculated how much land in Syria was hit. Wim Zwijnenburg, disarmament project leader at PAX, told our team:
“We looked at the damaged vegetation and compared it with the week before it was sprayed and the week after it was sprayed. We could follow this line of affected vegetation for roughly 55 kilometres from the south to the north in the Golan Heights.
A rough estimate is that between six and 10 square kilometres of area was sprayed with herbicides, which is roughly twice the size of Central Park in New York.
What Israel effectively has been doing is creating a dead zone on the borders with Syria and Lebanon, allegedly for security reasons.”
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