Oil Spill Assessment Aircraft Assured Safety Over Lebanon

Israeli Environment Minister Gideon Ezra has assured safe passage for United Nations helicopters seeking to determine the extent of the enormous oil spill that has fouled some 150 kilometers of Lebanese and Syrian coastline. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 tons of oil spewed into the Mediterranean Sea after Israeli missiles struck the Jiyyah power plant south of Beirut in mid-July, but hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have made comprehensive aerial surveillance impossible until now.