Populations in Lebanon are at risk of atrocity crimes, including likely war crimes, as Israeli forces continue a military assault on the country. Hezbollah has also perpetrated likely war crimes.

BACKGROUND:

On 2 March, just two days after the United States (US) and Israel initiated a joint military campaign against Iran, Israel launched an extensive attack against Lebanon. The escalation followed missile strikes by Hezbollah towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli forces have since carried out raids in southern Lebanon, threatening a widespread ground invasion, and launched airstrikes across the country. At the time of writing, more than 2,000 people have been killed and over 6,400 injured, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. Following weeks of indiscriminate attacks and expanding evacuation orders by Israel, some 1.2 million people – approximately 20 percent of Lebanon’s population – have been forcibly displaced.

Before this offensive, populations across Lebanon, particularly the south, were still recovering from intense hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in 2023-2024. On 8 October 2023, following the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and the subsequent launch of Israel’s assault on Gaza, Hezbollah fired rockets and artillery into Israel. This marked the beginning of sustained cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Tensions escalated further on 17 September 2024, when thousands of handheld pagers and radios exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria, killing at least a dozen people and wounding over 3,000 others, which was later confirmed to be Israel’s operation.

In October 2024 Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon – the first since 2006 – accompanied by increased shelling and air raids against border towns. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warned this violated UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006 during the last major conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Within two weeks, Israel had issued mass displacement orders for 25 percent of Lebanon. At this time, an estimated 1.3 million people were displaced, including into neighboring countries. Hezbollah’s activities displaced over 60,000 residents of northern Israel and killed and injured over a dozen others. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, between October 2023 and November 2024 Israeli forces killed over 3,000 people and injured more than 13,000.

On 27 November 2024 a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah – primarily mediated by the US and France – took effect, reaffirming both parties’ commitment to Resolution 1701. Despite the ceasefire, violations were widespread and exposed civilians to continued harm. In June 2025 Israel intensified attacks on alleged Hezbollah-related targets, launching near-daily airstrikes that resulted in civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian objects, and continued to occupy several locations in southern Lebanon. By November 2025 UNIFIL had documented nearly 7,800 airspace violations – almost all attributed to Israel – and over 2,500 Israeli ground violations. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that Israeli attacks killed at least 127 civilians in Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect and up until 24 November 2025. UN experts also recorded four incidents involving projectiles launched from Lebanon toward Israel. In January 2026 Lebanon filed a complaint with the UNSC regarding Israel’s ceasefire violations, citing over 2,000 breaches of Lebanese sovereignty in the last three months of 2025 alone.

These violations have had sustained humanitarian consequences. Human Rights Watch (HRW) found repeated Israeli attacks on infrastructure critical to reconstruction efforts in southern Lebanon, which may amount to war crimes. Amnesty International also documented the damage or destruction of over 10,000 structures between October 2024 and January 2025. More than 64,000 people remained displaced following the 2024 ceasefire, unable to return due to security risks and mass destruction. Following Israel’s most recent March offensive, many who managed to return have faced repeated displacement.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Lebanon’s government announced on 2 March the first-ever ban of Hezbollah’s military activities, limiting its operations to political functions. Despite this move, efforts by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun on 9 March to initiate direct negotiations with Israel – the first in decades – were dismissed by Israeli officials as “too late” and passed over by the US. Senior Hezbollah officials rejected the government’s ban, while the group has continued armed attacks.

On 22 March Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, directed forces to accelerate the destruction of all bridges over the Litani River in southern Lebanon under the guise of counterterror operations. Civilians and civilian infrastructure have consequently come under increasing attack. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 87 attacks on healthcare have killed 52 health workers and injured 126 others. Since 2 March three journalists have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. Attacks on power stations, water infrastructure and financial institutions have been documented while HRW reported Israel’s unlawful use of white phosphorus on residential areas in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL peacekeepers have also faced heightened insecurity and attacks on their base, with three killed and several other injured in incidents throughout March.

On 7 April the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire mediated by Pakistan. While Pakistan stated that the agreement extended to Lebanon, Israel claimed otherwise and subsequently launched one of the largest waves of airstrikes across Lebanon, killing over 300 people in one day. Israeli displacement orders in Beirut have expanded to include areas encompassing two major referral hospitals and shelters accommodating over 5,000 people. While pledging to continue attacks, on 9 April Israel accepted Lebanon’s renewed proposal for direct talks.

Given the pattern of attacks by Israel, which appear to mirror those utilized in Gaza, Spain and Slovenia have called for the European Union (EU) to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel.

ANALYSIS:

Israel’s offensive in Lebanon risks further destabilizing the region and normalizing patterns of unlawful conduct against civilians. Israeli forces have intensified violence and destruction, repeating actions from prior offensives in Lebanon, including those which may amount to possible war crimes.

Israel also appears to be replicating tactics used to commit atrocities in Gaza in Lebanon, including the issuance of mass displacement orders, attacks on densely populated areas with little or no warning, widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, targeting of healthcare and the repeated use of white phosphorus. Senior Israeli officials have explicitly referenced Gaza as a model for operations in Lebanon. The Israeli military’s actions to empty and destroy villages in southern Lebanon, including the demolition of critical bridges, risks severing the south from the rest of the country. This approach follows the pattern of Israel’s use of displacement orders in Gaza to isolate the north from the south, as well as settlement-related policies in the Occupied West Bank that would effectively bifurcate the territory.

The extensive failure of the international community to hold Israel accountable for the atrocities in Gaza, as well as for its large-scale and near daily violations of the 2024 ceasefire agreement, has emboldened Israel to launch the current assault on Lebanon with little regard for international law. Without meaningful accountability, populations in Lebanon remain at increasing risk of atrocities, as well as prolonged occupation.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Ongoing and expanding mass displacement orders.
    • Deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, which may amount to war crimes.
    • Incitement by senior Israeli officials to commit atrocity crimes, including through replicating military conduct in Gaza.
    • Lack of meaningful engagement by influential states to facilitate de-escalation and recommitment to the ceasefire.
    • No effective accountability for cycles of deadly hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah or Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

NECESSARY ACTION:

Efforts to ensure an immediate, lasting ceasefire between all parties must be prioritized, including by all third states with influence to mediate and facilitate an agreement. Israel and Hezbollah must cease hostilities, respect International Humanitarian Law, ensure the protection of civilians and recommit to Resolution 1701. Israel must cease its military offensive in Lebanon and withdraw all forces.

States must refrain from providing any assistance to Israel that would risk complicity in grave violations of international law, including potential atrocity crimes. This includes imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel, prohibiting the use of ports or airports for shipments of arms and munitions to Israel and suspending military and intelligence cooperation. The EU should suspend its Association Agreement with Israel. States should also impose sanctions on Israeli government officials and uphold the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Lebanese government should promptly finalize earlier moves to grant the ICC immediate jurisdiction to investigate crimes emanating from, and occurring within, its territory.