Eurasia Press & News
Geneva – Since the beginning of its large-scale aggression against Lebanon, the Israeli army has committed more than 20 massacres of civilians, and has attempted to legitimize and justify them under the pretext of targeting military targets or carrying out military or political assassinations.
On 20 September 2024, an Israeli raid in the Al-Qaim neighborhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs destroyed two buildings, leaving 54 people killed and over 60 injured. Later, the Israeli army declared that the attack targeted a meeting of leaders of Hezbollah.
On 23 September 2024, the Israeli army claimed to have targeted a Hezbollah leader in a raid on a residential building in the Hayy Madi area. The attack injured six people. On 24 September, an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in the Ghobeiry area of Beirut, killing six civilians. The Israeli army later announced that it had begun attacking “targets” in Beirut.
On 25 September 2024, the Israeli army targeted the Ghobeiry area again, killing six people and wounding 15 others under the same claim. The following day, 26 September 2024, an Israeli raid claimed to have killed a Hezbollah leader after targeting the Al-Qaim area in the southern suburbs of Beirut. This was the fourth time in less than a week that the densely populated residential area had been targeted. Two civilians were killed, and 15 others were wounded in the raid.
On 27 September 2024, Israel attacked Hezbollah headquarters by bombing the southern suburbs of Beirut roughly ten times in less than three minutes. Seven residential buildings in Haret Hreik were completely destroyed as a result, with the intention of targeting the secretary-general of Hezbollah. On the same day, the Israeli army attacked a house in the town of Baadran in Chouf, claiming to have targeted one of the party’s members. The attack claimed the lives of eight civilians, five of whom were displaced, and left three others wounded. From Saturday, 28 September 2024, to 8 October 2023, 1,640 people—including 104 children and 194 women—were killed and 8,408 wounded as a result of Israeli aggression in Lebanon.
On 29 September 2024, the Israeli army committed a new massacre in the Zboud area in the northern Bekaa Valley after striking a residential building, killing at least 17 members of the same family. On the same day, the Israeli army killed 71 people and wounded more than 100 others after targeting a building in Ain al-Delb in Sidon.
Israeli massacres against civilians also continued in October under the pretext of military assassinations. On 1 October 2024, the Israeli army carried out an air raid on the Ain al-Hilweh camp, targeting the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which led to the killing of six people, including two women and three children. Using white phosphorus, a weapon that is prohibited worldwide, the Israeli army attacked the Al-Bashoura region on 3 October under the pretext of targeting Hezbollah members. They killed seven paramedics from the Islamic Health Authority in their civil defense center after directly targeting them and injuring others.
On 4 October, the Israeli army targeted the Beddawi camp, assassinating a leader in the Qassam Brigades. The attack also killed his wife and two daughters.
On 5 October, the Israeli army targeted a residential building in the Jiyeh area of the Kharoub region, claiming a new assassination attempt without identifying the targeted person, resulting in two civilians being killed and 18 wounded. The same day, two more residential buildings were targeted —one in the town of Qamatiyeh, in which six people were killed, including three children, with eleven injured, and one in the Aley district’s town of Kaifun, where six people were killed and thirteen injured.
On 9 October 2024, the Israeli army targeted a shelter in the town of Wardaniyeh in the Chouf district under the pretense of targeting a specific individual, knowing that the shelter center housed 15 displaced families. This was a dangerous escalation against civilians, resulting in the deaths of six people and the injury of thirteen others.
On 10 October 2024, the Israeli army targeted a residential building in the Karak area in the Zahle district, killing nine people and wounding 14 others. On the evening of the same day, the Israeli army announced the execution of an assassination operation by targeting two areas in the heart of Beirut, namely Al-Nuwairi and Ras Al-Nabaa, densely populated areas which were considered safe. Without any prior warning or the use of precision weapons, this operation resulted in the killing of 22 people and the injuring of 117. Rubble removal operations continued and may reveal more deaths.
Israel has a fundamental duty to uphold international law, particularly international humanitarian law, and to ensure that all of its tenets—humanity, distinction, military necessity, proportionality, and taking necessary precautions—are applied when organizing and carrying out any military operation.
Even if Israel can accurately target the locations of Hezbollah militants, this does not excuse including civilian infrastructure or civilians—including the families of militants—as targets of a direct, indiscriminate, or excessive attack. Collateral damage caused to civilians during a military attack must not be greater than the direct, tangible military advantage that results from it; otherwise, these attacks must be considered war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Additionally, even if there are military targets in the area at the time of an attack—whether they be militants or facilities connected to armed groups—this does not grant the Israeli army the unrestricted right to select the weapon and mode of warfare to destroy these targets without shielding the local civilian population from the consequences of hostile operations. The Israeli army must use weaponry that strikes the military target precisely while sparing civilians and civilian property from needless casualties.
Therefore, these Israeli military operations constitute direct, random, or excessive attacks, each of which, under the Rome Statute, constitutes a full-fledged war crime, depending on the number of civilian casualties, the number of injuries, and the extent of the massive destruction caused by Israel in its raids. Since these assaults are part of the larger, deliberate military campaign that the Israeli army is waging against Lebanon’s civilian population, they also qualify as crimes against humanity.
Human rights principles that forbid violence against non-combatant individuals and require that their personal safety not be jeopardized are incompatible with these violations, which also amount to grave breaches of international human rights law. These violations include the targeting of civilians in unlawful killings and the use of killing as a political tool.
The international community has a legal obligation to stop Israel from committing serious crimes against civilians in Lebanon and Lebanese territory. This obligation includes using all legal means to prevent Israel from obtaining weapons, completely prohibiting the sale or export of weapons to Israel, immediately ceasing to provide any military or intelligence support that Israel might use to wage illegal wars, and holding Israel accountable for all of these crimes
