Thameen al-Khaitan, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, cited last week’s attack on the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp that killed 11 children.
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He said in a statement on Tuesday that all those killed in the Ain al-Hilweh attack were civilians, raising “serious concerns that the Israeli military’s attack may have violated international humanitarian law principles on the conduct of hostilities”.
According to the United Nations, Israel has killed more than 300 people in Lebanon since the November 27, 2024 ceasefire, including about 127 civilians.
Israeli forces are deployed in five areas of southern Lebanon and continue almost daily airstrikes, which Israel says target the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah’s fighters and its infrastructure.
Al-Khaitan described last week’s attack on Ein al-Hilweh near Sidon as one of the deadliest attacks since the ceasefire.
“At least 13 civilians, including 11 children, were killed and at least six civilians were injured in an Israeli attack on the Ein el-Hilweh camp last week,” he said. “There must be a prompt and impartial investigation…those responsible must be brought to justice.”
He said Israeli attacks have also hit homes, roads, factories and construction sites, hindering reconstruction in the south and preventing families from returning. He cited a November 16 strike at a cement and asphalt factory in Ansar, in which dozens of concrete mixers, cranes and fuel tanks were destroyed.
According to the United Nations, more than 64,000 people, mostly from southern Lebanon, are displaced.
Al-Khaitan said Israel has begun construction of a wall that penetrates Lebanese territory, making 4,000 square meters (43,055 square feet) inaccessible and undermining the right of return of displaced people.
“All internally displaced people should be able to return to their homes and reconstruction should be supported, not harassed,” he said.
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The warning comes amid heightened tensions after a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on Sunday.
Hezbollah said its chief of staff, Haitham Ali Tabatabai, was among five killed and 28 others killed in the attack in Dahiyah.
Experts say the attack marks a major escalation after the first attack on Lebanon’s capital in months, and comes days after Lebanon’s president announced the country had agreed to talks following pressure from Israel and the United States to accelerate efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was seriously weakened after an Israeli attack in September 2024, which killed its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior officials. Since the November ceasefire, the group has responded to Israeli attacks only once.
Al-Khaitan urged “all parties” to observe the ceasefire “in good faith”.
He said, “A genuine path towards a permanent cessation of hostilities is the only way to protect the human rights of civilians on both sides from the destructive effects of new hostilities. Accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law must be realized.”
Meanwhile, Israel continues its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza despite a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, killing more than 300 people since the ceasefire took effect in early October. At least 69,733 people have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023.
Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza after the Palestinian armed group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing at least 1,129 people and capturing more than 200 others.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on October 8, 2023, in what it said was an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, marking the beginning of more than a year of escalating hostilities with Israel as the two sides frequently exchanged cross-border attacks.
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