Israel's deadliest day in Lebanon kills 500, sparks war crimes outcry
Israel justifies bombing civilian areas, using the same unverified “human shields” claims that it used in Gaza.
Originally published on Global Voices
In an unprecedented and brutal bombing campaign, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people in less than 24 hours according to initial numbers from the Lebanese health ministry. The death toll is expected to rise as more than 1,600 people have been reported wounded, and many still missing under the rubble amid the ongoing bombing campaigns. In just one day, the casualties have reached nearly half the total from the entire 33-day war in 2006.
This day marks one of the darkest chapters in Lebanon’s recent history, as the country reels from the destruction and the resulting humanitarian crisis. Hezbollah responded to the airstrikes by launching several waves of rockets on targets in northern Israel including a weapons factory and military airfields.
Israel announced that it had carried out 1,600 targeted strikes throughout the day, claiming the strikes targeted Hezbollah positions. However, these claims have raised significant alarm and skepticism, especially given the troubling parallels to Israel’s previous military campaigns in Gaza. In Gaza, similar justifications were given for attacks on UN shelters, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure, leading to international accusations of genocide and war crimes. A case has already been filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa, supported by numerous countries, accusing Israel of violating international humanitarian law.
Ghada Majadli, a policy analyst with Al Shabaka tweeted:
1. Israel's attack on Lebanon is a textbook repetition of Gaza: labeling the entire population as ‘human shields’ to justify making them military targets without any factual basis, issuing evacuation orders to entire villages, to give a facade of legality to their assaults>>
- Ghada Majadli غادة مجادلة (@GMajadli) September 23, 2024
Disinformation and ‘human shields’
In parallel with the bombing campaign, a wave of disinformation has spread across social media and official channels, attempting to justify the widespread targeting of civilian areas across Lebanon. One of the primary claims is that Hezbollah is using civilian homes to hide its missile launchpads, effectively using civilians as human shields. This narrative has been normalized in Gaza over the past year and is now being deployed in Lebanon as a dangerous excuse for indiscriminate airstrikes.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese commented:
Like the Palestinians, the Lebanese know that you are lying. Like the Palestininas, the Lebanese know that Israel's leadership is as unscrupulous as eager to expand its genocidal violence to the region in order to maintain power and advance its settler-colonial agenda. Like the… https://t.co/0e8rDEIugg
- Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) September 23, 2024
Animated digital videos, presented as “evidence” of Hezbollah’s presence in civilian areas, that bear a strong resemblance to videos used to justify the destruction of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, have circulated online. These animated videos, lacking any independent verification, are being used to justify the destruction of homes, hospitals, and schools, with hundreds killed and thousands displaced as a result.
Panic and displacement
As bombs rained down on Lebanon, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders through random phone messages and radio broadcasts, warning civilians to leave their homes if they were harboring Hezbollah weapons.
These haphazard warnings, combined with relentless airstrikes, have triggered mass panic and widespread displacement. Thousands of people have fled their homes, unsure of where to go as roads and villages were being bombed continuously.
Southern highway - making our way to Beirut - Israeli air strikes along to highway pic.twitter.com/NY4W7mQHGj
- Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) September 23, 2024
Escalating tensions
This escalation follows a week of intense attacks on Lebanon, some of which have been described as violations of international law. The assassination of senior Hezbollah commanders in Beirut has also contributed to the escalating violence, with several civilians, including children, killed in the attack. Hezbollah responded by targeting Israeli Ramat David airbase and the Rafael military-industrial complex in northern Haifa.
According to Al Jazeera - whose office in Ramallah was raided and closed by the Israeli army on September 22, 2024 - there have been an estimated 7800 attacks by Israel on Lebanon between October 7, 2023 and September 6, 2024, compared to 1800 strikes by Hezbollah.
Adding to the volatile situation are the inflammatory statements made by Israeli officials. Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel called for expanding illegal colonies in the occupied West Bank, and more threats of escalation coming from its highest office. Such rhetoric only fuels the fears of a broader regional conflict, with no end in sight to the violence.
Need for accountability
The lack of international accountability for Israel’s actions in Palestine has emboldened its government to pursue increasingly aggressive military campaigns, both in Lebanon and Palestine. Despite mounting evidence of war crimes, no serious pressure has been placed on Israel to accept a ceasefire or halt its escalating behavior. This absence of real pressure to de-escalate the conflict has led many to fear that the violence will only intensify.
Calls for an immediate ceasefire have been growing, with countries around the world urging Israel to halt its military operations and allow humanitarian aid to reach affected civilians in Gaza, and Hezbollah clearly stating that its attacks will stop the moment the war on Gaza stops. However, with no clear path toward accountability the violence appears set to continue.
As Lebanon mourns its dead and the international community debates its next steps, the human toll of Israel’s bombardment becomes clearer. Entire families have been wiped out, neighborhoods destroyed, and a country left grappling with yet another devastating chapter in its long history of suffering.
Written by Walid El Houri
https://globalvoices.org/2024/09/24/israels-deadliest-day-in-lebanon-kills-500-sparks-war-crimes-outcry/
https://globalvoices.org/?p=820935