'Obliterated entire families': Amnesty calls for investigating Israeli strikes in Lebanon as war crimes

BEIRUT — In a new report released Thursday, Amnesty International cited evidence that Israeli attacks in Lebanon since the resumption of hostilities in March have failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets, resulting in the death of entire families and children.

The London-based rights group called for an investigation into three Israeli airstrikes that occurred in southern Lebanon at the start of the war that killed 24 civilians, including 12 children.

What happened: According to Amnesty, on March 6, the Israeli military struck a residential building in al-Thakana neighborhood of the Tyre district, without prior warning, killing eight civilian family members, including three children.

Another Israeli airstrike destroyed a house on March 12 in the Sidon district's Irkay village, killing seven members of a single family, including four children.

On March 13, seven civilians were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a home in al-Rahbat neighborhood in the Nabatieh district. Among those killed were a couple and their four children.

Amnesty International said it interviewed 15 people, including survivors, relatives, paramedics and journalists who visited the attack sites and analyzed satellite imagery, gathering enough evidence to conclude that “Israeli forces violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, by carrying out attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects, or by failing to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians.”

Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa region, condemned the Israeli attacks in the report, saying, “Within the space of just a week — the Israeli military obliterated entire families, including a dozen children, in Lebanon, demonstrating a callous disregard for civilian lives.”

Background: Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East conflict on March 2, when Hezbollah claimed a rocket attack on Israel in support of Iran. Israel responded by waging a wide-scale offensive across the country, killing more than 4,321 people, including 253 children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

In Israel, two civilians have been killed throughout the war, while at least 39 Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon in Hezbollah drone attacks and clashes with the group's fighters, according to Israeli media reports.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have advanced deep inside Lebanese territory since March, with Israel declaring the establishment of its Yellow Line around 10 km (six miles) into southern Lebanon.

In a statement on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon until Hezbollah is fully disarmed.

“We did not ask permission from any party to enter Lebanon, and we do not need permission to remain in Lebanon,” he stressed, adding, “As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have made clear, we will continue to remain in the security zone in Lebanon and operate from it for as long as necessary, until Hezbollah is disarmed.”

The Lebanese government’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah have been stymied by the group’s refusal to hand over its arsenal, citing Israel’s presence and ongoing attacks in the south of the country. 

Several hospitals have been severely damaged in Israeli strikes throughout the war. On June 1, an Israeli strike on the Doctors-Without-Borders-affiliated Jabal Amel Hospital in Tyre killed four people and injured 127 others, including doctors and nurses.

Israel has continued to launch daily airstrikes in southern Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire framework announced on June 3. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets and drones at northern Israel.

On Wednesday, two people were killed in an Israeli ​drone strike ⁠near ​a hospital ​in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The Israeli military demolished several homes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to the Lebanese state-run news agency.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has refrained from launching rocket or drone attacks on Israel since Iran and the United States reached their own ceasefire agreement on June 24, stipulating an end of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. However, ground clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces positioned in southern Lebanon have continued. 

Reactions: In response to Amnesty International's request for comment regarding its attacks on civilians in Lebanon, Israeli authorities said some of these operations “were carried out against Hezbollah military objectives,” while others were under review.

The rights group cited Israeli authorities as saying that they are “committed to mitigating harm to civilians during operational activity” and that Hezbollah “systematically exploits civilian infrastructure for military purposes.”

Al-Monitor has reached out to the Lebanese government for comment. 

Amnesty called on governments to impose an arms embargo on Israel and use legal mechanisms to prosecute those behind the alleged violations in Lebanon.

Beckerle raised concerns about the recent US-brokered framework agreement, which she said “could become yet another barrier to justice, denying victims a path to accountability.”

“The harrowing testimonies shared by survivors and witnesses of these attacks offer a chilling glimpse of what complete impunity for unlawful Israeli attacks means in practice,” she added, calling on the Lebanese government to immediately grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Israeli crimes committed on Lebanese territory.

“Without coordinated action — domestically and internationally — the cycle of war crimes and impunity will continue with no end in sight,” she warned.

Know more: Beckerle was referring to Article 13 of the framework agreement that Israel, Lebanon and the US signed on June 26 following four days of intensive talks between Lebanese and Israeli representatives at the State Department in Washington.

Under the 14-point framework, the Lebanese and Israeli sides expressed their intent to formally end any state of war through US-backed negotiations.

Article 13, however, states that Lebanon and Israel commit to ceasing “all hostile or adverse actions in international political or legal fora,” a passage legal and rights experts say could prevent victims of alleged Israeli war crimes in Lebanon from seeking justice via international courts.

Lebanon and Israel began landmark direct talks in Washington on April 16. A sixth round of US-mediated talks is expected to take place in Rome on July 15-16, US Ambassador to Beirut Michel Issa said following a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday.

Hezbollah, which has repeatedly rejected direct talks with Israel, has criticized the framework agreement as conceding to Israeli dictates.

In a defiant speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem vowed that the agreement would not be implemented, calling it “illegitimate” and “unconstitutional.”

“Not a single clause of this agreement will pass, and you will be powerless to stop it,” he said, addressing the Lebanese government.

Qassem praised Iran’s support for his group, which he said helped secure the ceasefire in Lebanon.

“We're clinging to the course of the US-Iranian agreement," he said. "We will stay on the battlefield."