Lebanese and international civil society organizations have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (the Council) to hold an emergency session on Lebanon to investigate and pursue accountability for war crimes being carried out in the country. In a joint letter sent to UN member states, human rights organizations warn that Israel’s large-scale bombing campaign in Lebanon, which has reduced entire cities to rubble, is creating a humanitarian catastrophe that is “spiralling out of control.” According to the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Israel’s illegal invasion of Lebanon reflects and expands on its scorched earth warfare in Gaza.
Jeremie Smith, Director of the Geneva Office of CIHRS, said “Parts of Lebanon have begun to resemble Gaza. Israel’s total disregard for civilian life is self-evident – bombs have levelled entire cities. Yet not a single investigation has been opened by any actor, anywhere. The Council must act to pursue accountability for the wholesale destruction we are witnessing.”
An emergency session or “special session” of the UN Human Rights Council can be called at any time through a request put forward by 16 member states.
According to recent data, over 2,867 people have been killed, with more than 13,000 injured as a result of recent Israeli airstrikes and other military actions across the country. Over 1.2 million people—mostly civilians— have been forcibly displaced. Essential infrastructure, including hospitals, medical centres, and other facilities, has been attacked, severely impeding humanitarian aid efforts. More than 115 healthcare workers have been killed. On 1 October, Israeli forces launched a deadly ground offensive in Lebanon accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric from Israeli officials threatening “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”
“Israel’s targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in both Gaza and Lebanon is not only causing immense suffering and destabilizing the region, but also demolishing international law. UN member states, including the US and Germany who continue to provide military aid to Israel, have a duty to uphold these standards,” Mr Smith added.
In the letter civil society “demand that states activate the tools of the Human Rights Council, by convening a special session and establishing an international investigative mechanism into violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in order to fulfil their responsibility to protect human rights, prevent further violations, and pursue accountability for perpetrators.”
