Hezbollah and Palestinian flags are seen in the southern Lebanese village of Houla, near the border with Israel, Aug. 26, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Aziz Taher.

i24 News – A representative from Israel’s military announced on Monday that the IDF allowed agricultural workers from several towns in Lebanon to cross the border in order to harvest olives as part of a goodwill gesture.

“In light of the economic situation in Lebanon, and as a gesture of goodwill to the Lebanese people, the IDF opened the border to agricultural workers from Al Jabal, Itaron, and Balida,” the institution’s Arabic media spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, explained.

“The IDF allowed the workers to cross the Blue Line, to a certain extent, allowing them to harvest olive trees in Israeli territory.”

Adraee’s statement was later reportedly conveyed to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Lebanon is still struggling to emerge from a massive economic crisis and energy shortage.

A press release from the World Bank blamed poor leadership for the crisis, stating the country’s financial troubles stemmed from “political consensus in defense of a bankrupt economic system, which benefited a few for so long.”

The state is experiencing a period of intense sectarian violence, as divisions between Lebanon’s factions drive schisms along political lines.

Tensions are on the rise as various groups within the country accuse each other of involvement in the recent Beirut street violence, where clashes killed seven demonstrators during a Hezbollah-led rally.