UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on impact of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon

“Another tragic chapter in Lebanon’s history is being written, bringing more suffering to civilians. Since 2 March, at least 886 people have been killed, including at least 111 children, according to Lebanese authorities. Israeli airstrikes have destroyed hundreds of homes and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities. At the same time, Hezbollah fighters have launched indiscriminate barrages of rockets at Israel, injuring people and causing damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure,” he said.

“In many instances, Israeli airstrikes have destroyed entire residential buildings in dense urban environments, with multiple members of the same family, including women and children, often killed together. Such attacks raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law,” Al-Kheetan said.

People displaced by the fighting and living in tents along Beirut’s seafront have also been hit, and in recent days, at least 16 medical staff have been killed.

“Deliberately attacking civilians or civilian objects amounts to a war crime. In addition, international law provides for specific protections for healthcare workers as well as people at heightened risk, such as the elderly, women, and displaced people,” Al-Kheetan said.

International law provides for specific protections for healthcare workers, as well as people at heightened risk such as the elderly, women and displaced people.

“Meanwhile, Israel has extended its extensive warnings and displacement orders across southern Lebanon, adding the region between the Litani and Zahrani rivers to the broad swath of Lebanese territory already covered by such measures. These orders may amount to forced displacement, prohibited under international humanitarian law,” the spokesperson added.

“Large numbers of displaced people have lost their homes and are left without any safe place to stay. Entire families are sleeping in makeshift tents on the streets, exposed to harsh weather such as the recent storms,” he said.

Others remain in temporary shelters or with host communities, where overcrowding is reaching breaking point. Multiple families are squeezed into single apartments or shared spaces, with tensions rising amid soaring living costs.

“With this displacement comes a wide array of human rights concerns: Proper healthcare, sufficient food and drinking water are lacking. Education has been interrupted for another academic year, freedom of movement no longer exists, and livelihoods have now been lost. And while people are displaced, Israeli attacks are destroying and damaging their houses, farmland and other civilian infrastructure,” Al-Kheetan said.

“Statements by Israeli officials threatening to impose the same level of destruction on Lebanon as inflicted in Gaza are wholly unacceptable. Such rhetoric, coupled with the Israeli military’s announcement that it will deploy additional forces and expand its ground incursion, intensify deep fear and anxiety among the Lebanese population,” he stated.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org

Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org

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