Lebanon/Israel: Israel Must Cease Indiscriminate and Disproportionate Attacks

Oct 15, 2024 | Advocacy, News, Press Releases

Israel violated the United Nations Charter and the international humanitarian law’s principles of distinction and precautions, as the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) intensified strikes on southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and Beirut, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today. Ongoing IDF attacks have featured ineffective evacuation orders and the targeting of protected infrastructure and personnel, with civilians paying once again the highest price.

“Israel’s aggression violates Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and, with them, the United Nations Charter,” said Saïd Benarbia, ICJ MENA director. “Once again, the UN Security Council appears blocked by divisions and incapable to live up to its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and to hold Israel to account for its disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks and other violations of international law.

As of 9 October 2024, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, 2,141 people had been killed and 10,099 injured with most casualties being civilians since the start of the latest escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on 23 September 2024. Since then, Israel’s strikes have caused more than a million people most of them civilians to flee their homes, some having already been displaced twice in less than three weeks

Israel has issued purported evacuation warnings for towns in south Lebanon and the Beirut suburbs, which have generated mass displacement. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “one-quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders”. The warnings concerning the Southern Suburbs of Beirut have been issued in the middle of the night, at short notice, and based on confusing maps. Such warnings are not effective and are thus in violation of international humanitarian law.

Israel’s attacks have targeted densely populated areas, including ones where internally displaced people had taken refuge, without any warning. On 10 October, two IDF strikes hit the neighborhoods of Noueiri and Basta in central Beirut. One of these strikes, which may amount to a war crime, targeted Wafiq Safa, a senior Hezbollah leader. It injured 120 people and resulted in the killing of at least 22 civilians, in violation of the principles of distinction and proportionality.

As of 11 October 2024, according to WHO, since 23 September, “17 attacks on health care and healthcare workers killed 71 and injured 40.” On 9 October, a strike killed five members of the Lebanese Civil Defence, a public emergency medical service, who were in their barracks. Under international humanitarian law, medical units and transports exclusively assigned to medical purposes must be respected and protected in all circumstances unless “they are being used, outside their humanitarian function, to commit acts harmful to the enemy; the belligerents must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.

The ICJ further condemns the targeting of UN peacekeepers. On 10 October, the IDF fired at three positions held by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on the Lebanese border. Two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF tank fired toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura. These attacks came a few days after the UNIFIL rejected an Israeli request to relocate peacekeepers stationed near the Lebanese border. On 11 October, UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura was hit again, resulting in the wounding of two peacekeepers. On 13 October, Israeli tanks forced their way into one of the UNIFIL’s positions. Under the laws of war, directing an attack against personnel and objects involved in a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations is prohibited. These seemingly deliberate attacks on peacekeepers violate Security Council resolution 1701 on UNIFIL’s mandate and amount to war crimes.

Some 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the North as a result of Hezbollah’s daily attacks.

The ICJ urges Israel to cease unlawful attacks and reiterates its call for a de-escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Contact

Said Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Program; t: +41 22 979 3817, e:  said.benarbia(a)icj.org

Nour Al Hajj, Communications & Advocacy Officer, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Program; e: nour.alhajj(a)icj.org

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