GENEVA: The United Nations demanded swift investigations into fatal Israeli strikes across Lebanon to decide if they followed international law.
"The devastating impact of this renewed conflict is already before our eyes, with civilians paying a painfully heavy price", UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
"We urge the parties to step back from the brink of a major escalation of this conflict in Lebanon".
Her comments came as fresh Israeli strikes battered Lebanon, where Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned "a humanitarian disaster is looming" due to mass displacement.
Shamdasani warned that "Israel's military ground incursions into southern Lebanon, blanket displacement orders for the population in Beirut's southern suburbs, the Bekaa region and the full area to the south of the Litani river and its continued air strikes on different parts of the country, are bringing more misery and suffering to an already weary civilian population".
"These warnings and displacement orders issued for the south of Lebanon reportedly affected more than 100 towns and villages — home to tens of thousands of people and risk affecting many more", she said.
"In addition, on Thursday, the Israeli army urged the complete evacuation of almost the entire southern suburb of Beirut, creating fear and panic among residents, as well as the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon".
Shamdasani warned that in all, "hundreds of thousands have now been affected by these Israeli displacement orders", cautioning that they risked amounting to "prohibited forced displacement" under international law.
As for the strikes, she pointed to reports that at least eight people were killed in a strike on a residential building in Baalbek on Wednesday, including three girls and two women; and a family of four reportedly died when a building was struck in the Nabatyeh district on Thursday. — AFP
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