Between 13 and 15 July, an air raid targeted the electric power station located 25 km south of Beirut. Two fuel oil tanks, located only 25 m from the sea, were damaged: one caught fire releasing a 30 km long toxic cloud, the other, containing 15,000 t of hydrocarbons, spilled into the sea. A subsequent oil slick affected ¾ of the 200 km of Lebanese coastline, including 2 nature reserves. Two slicks also reached the Syrian coastline. The Cypriot, Turkish, Greek and Israeli coastlines were threatened. Damages to marine and coastal ecosystems were significant. The fuel oil was up to 8 m deep off the coast of Jieh. Fish, crustacea and crabs were found dead on the tourist port of Byblos, 40 km north of Beirut. The pollution may have had a health impact on the populations in the region and Lebanese fishermen saw their activity reduced to nothing. Faced with this ecological disaster, the Lebanese Ministry for Environment requested assistance from contracting parties to the Barcelona Convention and partners of the Mediterranean Action Plan. International stakeholders came together and provided their economic and material support to Lebanon, coordinated by the IMO (International Maritime Organisation). Kuwait sent 40 t of equipment for coagulating and absorbing oil, experts and equipment were sent by European and International institutions. Financial aid was also promised to Lebanon: 200,000 euros from the European Union, 200,000 US dollars from OPEC and 200,000 US dollars from the UNDP. However, the international intervention was impeded by the blockade imposed on Lebanon. Cleaning of the coastlines finally started on 18 August by the Lebanese civil defence while international aid continued to arrive. After sending 6 marine pollution experts to the scene on 21 August, on 12 September, Italy sent a patrol ship to participate with the cleaning of sea beds. This operation could only be carried out mostly manually, and a priority perimeter of 48,000 m² between 4 and 8 m depth was initially defined. The teams succeeded in removing approximately 30 m³ of hydrocarbons every 5 days. The French National Navy and Ministry for Equipment joined the management team of 8 people and sent equipment (skimmers, etc.).