Allegations of genocide in the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon

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Allegations of genocide in the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
Part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)
Derdghaya Melkite Church destroyed.png
Ruins of the Melkite church in Derdghaya
Location Lebanon
Date1 October 2024 – present
Target Lebanese people
Attack type
Mass murder, [1] [2] Forced displacement [3] [4]
Deaths2,267+ Lebanese people [5]
Injured11,022+ Lebanese people [5]
Victims1.2 million Lebanese people displaced [6]
AccusedFlag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg  Israel Defense Forces

The State of Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Lebanon during the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. [7] [8] [9] The claim has been made by actors such as Turkey [10] and the Palestinian Authority. [11]

Contents

Background

Israel began a series of airstrikes in Lebanon on 23 September 2024 as part of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict. The attacks have killed over 800 people, [12] injured more than 5,000, [13] [14] and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians, making it the deadliest series of attack in Lebanon since the end of the Lebanese Civil War. Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on 27 September 2024, and subsequently began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon on 1 October 2024. [6]

Timeline

Israel began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon on 1 October 2024. Although the Israel Defense Forces described its attacks as "limited, localized, and targeted ground raids" on Hezbollah targets, Israeli strikes targeted large swathes of Lebanese territory. Israel issues evacuation orders calling on residents in several villages to leave and head north of the Awali river. [6]

Impact on medical facilities

According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israeli strikes targeted 40 hospitals, 84 medical and ambulance centers, and a total of 243 medical facilities, killing at least 178 Lebanese medical staff members since October 2023. [5]

The World Health Organization reported that it had been unable to "deliver a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies" to Lebanon due to the almost complete closure of Beirut's airport. [6]

Casualties

Since mid-September 2024, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed at least 2,267 people and injured 11,022 more, according to a CNN tally. [5]

Additionally, at least 1.2 million Lebanese civilians have been displaced as a result of Israeli bombings and evacuation orders, which the United Nations described as "the largest wave of displacement Lebanon has seen in decades". [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel–Hamas war</span> Ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East

An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place in the Gaza Strip and Israel since 7 October 2023. It is the fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict since 2008, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)</span> Ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel

Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah started exchanging fire along the Israel–Lebanon border and in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights starting 8 October 2023. Israel also carried out airstrikes throughout Lebanon and in Syria. The clashes were part of the spillover of the Israel–Hamas war and the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict since the 2006 Lebanon War. On September 30, 2024, Israel escalated the conflict into a ground invasion of Lebanon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza Strip evacuations</span> State-ordered displacement

During the Israel–Hamas war, the Israeli military ordered mass evacuations in Gaza, resulting in one of the largest displacements of Palestinians since 1948. On 13 October 2023, just one week after Hamas' attack on Israel, Israel instructed 1.1 million Gazans north of the Wadi Gaza, including those in Gaza City, to evacuate within 24 hours. This evacuation triggered a humanitarian crisis, with Palestinians calling it the "second Nakba," in reference to the mass displacement of 1948.

Events of the year 2024 in Israel.

Events in the year 2024 in Lebanon.

The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024, including the events of the Israel–Hamas war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)</span> Ongoing period of increased instability in the Middle East

The Middle Eastern crisis is a series of interrelated conflicts and heightened instability in the Middle East which began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the war that followed, leading to a major escalation of the existing tensions between Israel and Iran. This has resulted in several proxy conflicts breaking out across the Middle East involving both sides, such as Red Sea crisis and the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war</span>

Since the beginning of the Israel–Hamas war in 2023, the Israeli military and authorities have been charged with committing war crimes, such as indiscriminate attacks on civilians in densely populated areas ; genocide; forced evacuations; the torture and executions of civilians; sexual violence; destruction of cultural heritage; collective punishment; and the mistreatment and torture of Palestinian prisoners. Humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B'tselem, and Oxfam, as well as human rights groups and experts, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry and United Nations special rapporteurs, have documented these actions.

On 20 September 2024, Israel launched an air attack that leveled an apartment building in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. The attack killed at least 45 people, including 16 Hezbollah militants, two of whom were commanders, identified as Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wehbe. They were the second and third Hezbollah commanders assassinated by Israel in two months during the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict, after the killing of Fuad Shukr.

This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 17 September 2024, when Hezbollah pagers exploded throughout Lebanon and Syria to the present. Beginning 23 September, Israel began its airstrikes in Lebanon, on 27 September, they assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, and on 1 October, they invaded Lebanon.

Citizens and permanent residents of Lebanon have fled the nation or have been internally displaced since the escalation of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah beginning in 2023, and especially during and following the September 2024 Lebanon strikes in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley. As of 25 September 2024, nearly 500,000 people were reported by Lebanese officials to have been displaced due to the strikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Hezbollah headquarters strike</span> Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon

On 27 September 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at a headquarters located 60 feet (18 m) underground beneath residential buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburb to the south of Beirut. Conducted by the Israeli Air Force using F-15I fighters, the operation involved dropping more than 80 bombs, including US-made 2,000-pound (910 kg) bunker buster bombs, destroying the underground headquarters as well as nearby buildings. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) codenamed the operation "New Order".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon</span> Ongoing Israeli military operation against Lebanon

On 1 October 2024, Israel invaded Southern Lebanon in an escalation of the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict, a spillover of the Israel–Hamas war. It followed a series of major attacks on Hezbollah in September that degraded its capabilities and devastated its leadership, beginning with the explosions of its communication devices. This was followed by a massive Israeli aerial bombing campaign throughout Lebanon, killing over 800 Lebanese people in one week. On 27 September, Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike.

On 4 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces struck a medical center in central Beirut with an airstrike, amid the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, killing at least nine and injuring more than 14. Seven members of the medical staff were killed, including two medics, according to a civil defence group linked to Hezbollah. Israel allegedly used white phosphorus to attack the medical center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of North Gaza</span>

The siege of North Gaza is an ongoing engagement of the Israel–Hamas war in the North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip, between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian forces. It began on 5 October 2024 when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reinvaded Jabalia and its refugee camp for the first time in months since earlier fighting.

On 10 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in Bachoura in central Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airstrike in the densely populated neighborhood killed at least 22 Lebanese people and injured another 117. The apparent target of the airstrike was Wafiq Safa, the brother-in-law of former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who reportedly evaded the assassination attempt against him. Israel used US-made JDAM fit for 2,000-pound bombs in the attack. The attack has been the deadliest attack in Beirut since the start of the 2023 Israel–Hezbollah conflict on 8 October 2023.

On 19 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces conducted attacks on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, killing at least 92 Palestinians and injuring more than 100, with many more missing believed to be trapped under the rubble. Israeli airstrikes and artillery shells struck several buildings in densely packed residential blocks filled with local residents and evacuees, primarily in the western regions of the city.

References

  1. Fernández, Belén. "The Lebanon pager attack: Israel's terror playbook strikes again". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  2. El-Ayache, Dima; Safieddine, Karim (30 October 2024). "For Israel, 'eradicating Hezbollah' means community erasure for Lebanese Shia". The New Arab. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  3. Staff, Al Jazeera. "What is Lebanon's ancient city of Baalbek and why is Israel targeting it?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  4. "Lebanon PM calls Israeli forced displacement order war crime". Mehr News Agency. 2024-10-31. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Picheta, Edward Szekeres, Chris Lau, Rob (2024-11-01). "The latest on war in the Middle East: Live updates". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Berger, Miriam (3 October 2024). "Israel unleashes major strikes near Beirut as Lebanon campaign escalates". The Washington Post.
  7. "Israel Is Extending Its Genocidal War to Lebanon". jacobin.com.
  8. "Global resistance to Israel's genocide 'will not give up' | Green Left". www.greenleft.org.au. October 28, 2024.
  9. "Generating consent for genocide: The BBC's complicity in Israel's crimes in Palestine and Lebanon". Mondoweiss. October 26, 2024.
  10. Presse, AFP-Agence France. "Erdogan Says Israel Committing 'Genocide' In Lebanon". www.barrons.com.
  11. Magid, Jacob (26 September 2024). "Abbas, in UN speech, blasts Israeli 'genocide' in Gaza, sets out 12-point 'day after' plan". The Times of Israel.
  12. Usaid Siddiqui; Farah Najjar. "Deadly Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza continue despite world warnings". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  13. "Israel strikes Beirut suburb as thousands flee southern Lebanon". France 24 . 23 September 2024. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  14. "Middle East latest: Israel 'prepared' to invade Lebanon if necessary, IDF says". Sky News. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.