Israeli attacks on Lebanon may amount to war crimes, UN rights office says
Al Jazeera
‘Deliberately attacking civilians, civilian objects amounts to war crime,’ UN says after resurgence in Israeli strikes.
Israeli attacks on residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon may amount to war crimes, the United Nations human rights office says as the Israeli military pummels its northern neighbour as part of the wider war engulfing the Middle East.
At a news briefing on Tuesday in Geneva, a spokesperson for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said hundreds of homes and other buildings, including healthcare facilities, have been destroyed in intensified Israeli strikes on the capital, Beirut, and other parts of the country.
Thameen al-Kheetan noted that displaced Lebanese civilians living in tents along the Beirut seafront were killed in Israeli strikes while other attacks since early March also have killed at least 16 health workers.
“International humanitarian law demands distinction between military targets and civilians and civilian objects and insists on feasible precautions being taken to protect civilians. Deliberately attacking civilians or civilian objects amounts to a war crime,” al-Kheetan said.
“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.”
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