Beirut, Brussels, Paris, 2 October 2024. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its Lebanese member organisation; the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), and EuroMed Rights Network condemn the ongoing Israeli military aggression in Lebanon. All attacks on civilians on either side of the Israel–Lebanon border, by Israel or Hezbollah must stop and Israeli troops must leave Lebanese territory immediately.
To date, the ongoing Israeli airstrikes that intensified since Monday the 23rd of September, has resulted in over 1640 deaths, including more than 104 children and 194 women, as well as paramedics. Additionally, around 10,000 people have been wounded, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. These numbers continue to rise, emphasising the urgent need for immediate action to stop this violence. The Israeli strikes targeted several regions in Lebanon, forcing nearly half a million people to flee to safer areas and seek shelter according to the Lebanese Foreign Minister. It is now clear that Israel has begun its war on Lebanon, with already reports of “limited” troop incursions into Southern Lebanon. These give rise to the fear of a larger land invasion, reminiscent of the traumatic experiences of 1978, 1982, 1993, 1996, and 2006.
Israel claims it intervenes under Article 51 of the UN Charter, which provides for the right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations. However, an attack needs to meet the criteria for self-defence under the Charter—meaning it is necessary and proportionate to the original attack. When the response is excessive, not necessary, or not a legitimate act of self-defence, it then can be classified as an aggression, a crime under international law. Considering the scale of the Israeli attacks against heavily populated civilian areas, these can be considered as flagrant violation of article 51 and constitute a Crime of aggression under Chapter VII of the UN Charter requiring UN security Council’s intervention.
In addition, the heavy collateral damage of the attacks also contravenes key principles of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV), which mandates the protection of civilian populations during armed conflicts. Indiscriminate harm to civilians violates the requirement to distinguish between combatants and civilians and to avoid disproportionate harm to civilian life. This constitutes a war crime.
Israel must be stopped from further escalation
The signatory organisations consider it particularly distressing to witness the ongoing dehumanisation of the Lebanese civilians. The tacit or open support by several Western governments of the ongoing escalation and the indiscriminate pager and walkie-talkie bombings of 17 and 18 September – that resulted in the deaths of at least 37 people, including two children and left around 2931 others injured, with children and health workers among the victims – are unacceptable. The bombing and raising of habitation buildings for the purpose of assassinations cannot be defined “as a measure of justice” as American President Joe Biden has done, legitimising a view of international relations that entirely substitutes violence to Law.
International leaders have a responsibility to show restraint and fairness in a situation in which every escalation causes civilian casualties and suffering on a massive scale. Governments are urged to impose sanctions such as an arms embargo on Israel for its gross violations of international law. A ceasefire in Lebanon – by the Resolution 1701 of the United Nations Security Council, adopted in 2006 – and ceasefires in Gaza must be urgently implemented. None of the repeated invasions and bombardments of Lebanon in past decades have produced any lasting political truce, and reconciliation in the region. The international community to take action to put an end to this escalation of violence and to hold all perpetrators accountable.