GENEVA: The UN human rights office said it has documented patterns of attacks on civilians in populated areas and residential buildings in Lebanon and Israel that may amount to serious violations of international humanitarian law. The report covers the first three weeks of the latest escalation, which began after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel on March 2, prompting Israel to respond with a large-scale military offensive.
Since then, nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities, amid widespread displacement and heavy damage to civilian infrastructure. US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a three-week extension to a ceasefire. The Israeli military and Hezbollah did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment about the report.
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS STRUCK
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented several cases in which Israeli strikes hit, and in some instances destroyed, multi-storey residential buildings, killing entire families in Lebanon, which may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law, OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said. The report cited the example of an Israeli strike on March 8 that hit a multi-storey residential building in the town of Sir el-Gharbiyeh, in the Nabatiyeh governorate. The strike killed at least 13 civilians inside the building, including five women, five men, two boys and a girl.
The office said incidents such as this raised concerns about compliance with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack under international humanitarian law. The report also said the OHCHR had found Hezbollah was firing unguided rockets that lacked the precision required to strike specific military targets, and damaged buildings and other civilian infrastructure in Israel, which likely violated international humanitarian law. While the office noted that notifications, including blanket evacuation warnings, had been issued by Israeli forces before some strikes in Lebanon, it identified cases in which warnings were either not given, were ineffective, or prevented many civilians from evacuating safely.
JOURNALIST KILLED
Meanwhile, the OHCHR also said on Friday that attacks on journalists could amount to war crimes if they were deliberate. An Israeli strike on Wednesday killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and injured photographer Zeinab Faraj, who was accompanying her in southern Lebanon.
Rescue teams, including the Lebanese Red Cross, faced obstruction by the Israeli military when trying to reach them, Lebanon's health ministry said. "This included the use of a sound grenade and live fire targeting an ambulance, delaying access to the site," Al-Kheetan added.
Meanwhile, Four people were killed on Saturday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, Lebanon's state news agency reported, while the Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired rockets at Israel, the latest challenges to a tenuous, recently extended ceasefire. The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, but Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah have continued to clash in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in the self-declared buffer zone.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had struck loaded rocket launchers belonging to Hezbollah in three locations in southern Lebanon overnight and targeted several Hezbollah fighters in separate strikes. It was unclear whether the deaths reported by the state news agency were linked to those Israeli strikes. The Israeli military restated its warning for Lebanese residents not to approach the Litani River area in southern Lebanon while it battles Hezbollah. It said it had intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" within the area its forces are presently occupying, and that two rockets were fired by Hezbollah into northern Israel, one of which was intercepted. There were no reports of casualties. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
