As if the casualties and loss of human life as well as the effect on oil prices was not enough, the Lebanon situation has now extended itself to include an ecological crisis.
An attack by the Israel Air Force on a power plant has caused a 15,000 tonnes oil spill along almost 130 kilometers of the Beirut coast causing hundreds of oil-coated fish to be washed ashore.
There are reports of the oil spill reaching as far as outside the Syrian harbor of Latakia, 120 kilometers north of Beirut.
Lebanon has appealed to the UN for help. While under the UN contingency plan to deal with such pollution, countries such as Algeria, Cyprus and the European Union have expressed their willingness in assisting with a clean-up by hand drive along wide stretches of the coast, the operation cannot start until the military offensive stops.
A shipment from Kuwait containing material to help contain the spill was unable to start work due to the continuing hostilities.
Other factors seem to have influenced the disaster - a leak from an Egyptian commercial boat and Israeli gunboat hit by Hezbollah missiles and effluent from a cement factory in Northern Lebanon.
A major concern is that if the spill is not contained soon, it could spread to the rest of the Mediterranean.
Marine life has been heavily affected and will continue to be.
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