GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday called for quick, impartial investigations into Israeli strikes in Lebanon, including a recent deadly attack on a Palestinian refugee camp.
The UN human rights office lamented that nearly a year after the Lebanon–Israel ceasefire was reached, “we continue to witness increasing attacks by the Israeli military”.
Lebanon has accused Israel of breaching the November ceasefire agreement which was intended to end more than a year of clashes with Hezbollah by continuing its strikes and maintaining troops inside Lebanese territory.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, more than 330 people have been killed and 945 injured in Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect on Nov 27 last year.
UN rights office spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan said the office had verified that 127 civilians were among the dead. He drew particular attention to last week’s Israeli strike on the Ain al Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, which killed 13 people, 11 of them children.
Serious concerns
Kheetan told reporters in Geneva that “all the fatalities we have documented as a result of this strike were civilians, raising serious concerns that the Israeli military’s attack may have violated international humanitarian law principles on the conduct of hostilities”.
“There must be prompt and impartial investigations into the Ain El Hilweh strike, as well as all other incidents involving possible violations of international humanitarian law by all parties, both before and after the ceasefire,” he said.
“Those responsible must be brought to justice.”
Asked who should conduct such inquiries, he responded: “When we’re talking about strikes conducted by the Israeli military, the Israeli military should investigate its own actions. Of course, the Lebanese state has the responsibility to investigate similar violations that can occur from its side.”
He added that the ongoing Israeli attacks had also destroyed or damaged civilian infrastructure.
“They have also severely hampered reconstruction efforts and attempts by internally displaced people to go back to their homes in southern Lebanon,” he said.
The rights office noted that more than 64,000 people mostly from southern Lebanon remain displaced in other parts of the country following last year’s fighting.
Kheetan also said “Israel started constructing a wall crossing into Lebanese territory that makes 4,000 square metres inaccessible to the population, thus affecting people’s right to return to their lands”.
“All those internally displaced must be able to go back to their homes, and reconstruction should be supported, not hampered,” he added, urging all sides to observe the ceasefire “in good faith”.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon reported that the Israeli military had built walls in south Lebanon near the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the effective border.
