Amnesty International on Thursday called for an urgent war crimes investigation into three Israeli enemy military strikes in southern Lebanon last month that killed 24 civilians, including 12 children, and erased entire families from civil registries.
In a report published Thursday, the human rights organization detailed how the intense airstrikes and ground incursions part of Israel’s ongoing offensive against Lebanon targeted residential homes in the cities of Tyre and Nabatieh, as well as the town of Arki near Sidon, between March 6 and 13. Amnesty asserted that it has “reasonable grounds to conclude that Israeli enemy forces violated international humanitarian law in each of these attacks.”
The investigation, which included interviews with 15 survivors, relatives of victims, medics, and journalists who visited the affected sites, found that Israeli forces failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets, directly targeted civilians, and neglected to take adequate precautions to minimize harm all grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
‘Blatant Disregard for Civilian Life’
“In just one week, the Israeli military wiped out entire families in Lebanon, including 12 children, demonstrating a blatant disregard for civilian life,” said Christine Beckerly, Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Beckerly urged the international community to “impose an immediate and comprehensive arms embargo on Israel” and to leverage universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violations.
Ceasefire Violations Amid Broader Toll
The attacks come despite the ceasefire agreement and the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed by Iran and the United States, which explicitly stipulated in its first clause a cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon. Israeli occupation forces have continued their strikes across southern Lebanon in direct contravention of the deal and also in defiance of a US-brokered framework agreement between the Lebanese and Israeli governments signed in Washington last month.
Source: News Agencies (Translated and edited by Al-Manar)