Amnesty International Calls for Investigation into Alleged War Crimes in Lebanon

ARK News.. Amnesty International has called for an investigation into three Israeli airstrikes carried out in southern Lebanon in March, saying the attacks wiped out entire families and may amount to war crimes.

In a report released on Thursday, the organization said the three Israeli strikes, conducted during March, killed 24 civilians, including 12 children.

According to Amnesty International, the attacks targeted residential homes in the cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh, as well as the town of Arkay near Sidon, between March 6 and March 13.

Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said, "In the span of just one week, the Israeli military wiped out entire families in Lebanon, including 12 children, demonstrating a shocking disregard for civilian lives."

The organization's investigation was based on interviews with 15 individuals, including survivors, relatives of victims, paramedics, journalists who visited the strike locations, and local officials.

Based on the evidence collected, Amnesty International said it had "reasonable grounds to conclude" that Israeli forces violated international humanitarian law in each of the three airstrikes by failing to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, carrying out attacks directed against civilians, or failing to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm.

Beckerle also called on governments to immediately impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel and to use the principles of universal jurisdiction and extraterritorial jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the alleged violations.

The report noted that Israeli authorities, responding to Amnesty's inquiries regarding nine attacks in Lebanon, including the three airstrikes covered in the report, said that some operations had targeted "Hezbollah military objectives," while indicating that others remained under review.

However, Amnesty International said Israeli authorities did not provide specific information regarding the three strikes, particularly concerning their intended military targets, while maintaining allegations that Hezbollah systematically uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes.

26