Farmers in southern Syria say their fields have been destroyed after aircraft believed to belong to Israel flew low over farmland and sprayed chemical substances across wide areas near the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Videos recorded in January and February 2026 show planes flying at low altitude above agricultural land in the governorate of Quneitra, leaving thin white trails behind them that farmers say marked the beginning of the destruction of their crops.
The footage was collected by the investigative team at FRANCE 24 Observers, which spoke to several residents living in villages along the border area. In the videos, aircraft can be seen passing over fields of wheat and pastureland close to the Alpha Line, the demarcation separating Syrian territory from the Israeli-controlled plateau. Residents say similar flights occurred repeatedly on January 25, January 27 and January 30, each time followed days later by visible damage to crops.
Farmers say the changes to their land happened quickly. According to several testimonies, fields that were green and healthy turned yellow within days and then dried up entirely. Wheat plants shriveled, pastureland became barren and even fruit trees began to lose their leaves. Local agricultural authorities estimate that hundreds of hectares have been affected, threatening the main source of income for rural families who depend on seasonal harvests to survive.
One farmer who requested anonymity described watching his crop die shortly after the aircraft flew over his land. He said that on January 27 planes sprayed chemicals across his fields, and that by early February the damage was unmistakable.
“Ten days after the planes flew over, everything turned yellow and then everything died,” he said. “I lost 7.5 hectares of wheat. I had bought seeds and cultivated the land on credit. Now the harvest is gone and the people I borrowed from want their money back.”
The losses are especially painful for farmers who had hoped 2026 would finally bring a good season after years of hardship. Several residents said previous harvests had been weak due to drought and economic instability. With better rainfall this year, many had borrowed money to plant larger fields, expecting that a successful harvest would allow them to repay debts and rebuild their livelihoods.
Instead, farmers say the spraying has left them with ruined crops and mounting financial pressure. Another landowner from the village of Al-Razaniyeh said his land and the surrounding fields were devastated within days of the flights. According to him, the damage stretched across dozens of hectares.
“Everything we planted turned yellow,” he said. “Even the olive trees started losing their leaves. We had borrowed money because the previous years were bad due to lack of rain. This year the rain was good, so we thought we would recover. Now we have lost the harvest and the debts remain.”
The incidents are unfolding in a region whose political situation has changed dramatically since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. After the collapse of the Syrian government, Israeli forces moved deeper into areas near the border, including parts of a demilitarised buffer zone originally created to separate the two countries after earlier conflicts.
That zone was established in a 1974 agreement monitored by the United Nations to prevent direct military confrontation between Israel and Syria. In theory it was meant to remain free of heavy military presence. But residents say that since the Syrian state’s authority weakened, Israeli troops have built a series of bases inside or near the zone and expanded their control over strategic terrain.
One of the most significant positions lies on Mount Hermon, a mountain that dominates the surrounding landscape and allows surveillance across southern Syria, Lebanon and northern Israel. Farmers living in nearby villages say the establishment of these positions has been accompanied by repeated military activity, including forest clearing and aerial spraying.
Satellite imagery supports claims that vegetation in the region has declined significantly in recent years. Researchers comparing infrared satellite images from 2022 to early 2026 found that areas once covered in thick vegetation now appear less healthy or partially barren.
Analysts from the Dutch peace organisation PAX studied the images and estimated that between six and ten square kilometres of land in southern Syria may have been sprayed with herbicides. According to their analysis, the damaged vegetation forms a line stretching roughly 55 kilometres along the frontier.
The organisation’s disarmament project leader, Wim Zwijnenburg, said the pattern suggests a deliberate attempt to eliminate vegetation in sensitive border areas. He described the result as the creation of a “dead zone” along the borders with Syria and Lebanon, a belt of land where plant life is reduced or removed entirely.
Israeli officials have not publicly commented on the specific operations described by farmers in Quneitra. However, the Israeli television channel i24News reported earlier that herbicides were being sprayed in border areas to kill vegetation that could provide cover for militant groups. Israel has long said that dense vegetation along frontier zones can allow armed fighters to hide or approach the border unnoticed.
For farmers living in the region, the broader geopolitical logic offers little comfort. The destruction of crops threatens not only individual incomes but also the long-term sustainability of rural communities that have already endured years of war and economic collapse.
Local agricultural authorities say technical teams collected soil and plant samples from affected areas after the reports of spraying. Preliminary findings suggested the presence of common herbicides, including diuron and 2,4-DB, though the full results of the testing have not yet been publicly released.
Officials estimate that roughly 400 hectares of grain fields and around 4,000 hectares of pastureland used for grazing livestock may have been damaged. The loss of pastureland could have long-term consequences for herders who depend on grazing areas to feed sheep and goats.
Some farmers also say that before the spraying began, large areas of forest near their villages were cleared. Satellite imagery appears to show a significant reduction in tree cover after late 2024, leaving open land where dense woodland once stood.
Hassan, another farmer in the region who asked to remain anonymous, said he witnessed the transformation of the landscape himself. According to him, a forest planted with pine and almond trees near the village of Kodna was cut down shortly after Israeli forces entered the area.
“This land was covered with trees,” he said. “They cut it all down. That’s why on the maps you see a big empty area now. Then the planes came and sprayed the fields. These violations happened in front of my eyes and I could do nothing.”
Standing beside land that once produced wheat and olives, he described the experience as a stark example of power and vulnerability along a volatile border.
“It is the law of the strongest against the weakest,” he said. “Our fields are dying, but this is our land and we cannot leave it.”
