On June 7 and 9, Israel ordered all residents of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and surrounding towns and refugee camps to evacuate their homes. This came a week after Israeli forces ordered more than 34,000 families to leave the South and Nabatieh governorates of Lebanon, and 50,000 families to leave Beirut’s southern suburbs. On May 27, the Israeli military declared the entire area south of the Zahrani River, roughly 14% of Lebanese territory, a “combat zone” and ordered residents to leave. Around one million people remain displaced in Lebanon today. These deliberate acts of displacement may amount to the war crime of forced displacement.
Since the escalation of hostilities on March 2, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,711 people in Lebanon, including 132 health workers and 247 children, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. At least 1,417 people—more than a third of the total number of deaths since March 2—have been killed in Israeli attacks since April 17. This includes 32 health workers, nearly one in four of all health workers killed since March 2, and at least 70 children, more than one in four of all children killed since March 2. On average, Israeli forces have killed more than one child every day since April 17.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have committed numerous violations of the laws of war in Lebanon with impunity, including presumed deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on journalists, civilians, medics, financial institutions, reconstruction facilities, and peacekeepers, as well as the widespread and unlawful use of white phosphorus in populated areas, among other violations.
