Israel’s bombings against Lebanon damaged 129 Lebanese health facilities, with 100 health professionals killed and 233 injured. The country’s Ministry of Health also reported that 116 ambulances were bombed and six hospitals had to be closed.
“These incidents constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law and seriously compromise the population’s access to health services,” says a statement from the United Nations (UN) office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) in Lebanon.
Attacking civilian and health infrastructure is considered a war crime. Israel had been threatening health facilities alleging that they were used by Hezbollah. Human rights organizations question the accusations.
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A warning to evacuate two hospitals in Beirut worried the World Health Organization (WHO).
The 45 days of conflict took the lives of 2,294 people and left another 7,500 injured, with at least 177 children killed and 704 injured, according to provisional calculations by the Lebanese Ministry of Health released this Friday (17).
It is also estimated that at least seven journalists were targets of Israeli attacks during this phase of the war in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) estimated that 37,800 housing units had been destroyed by April 12, four days before the ceasefire. Most of the destruction was in the suburbs of the capital, Beirut.
“This represents approximately 16% of the total damage recorded during the previous phases of the war. These figures highlight a rapid intensification of destruction, with a significant proportion of the war’s cumulative damage occurring in a very short period,” says the CNRS.
On the first day of the ceasefire in Iran, Israel launched a massive attack on Lebanon, particularly against the densely populated suburbs and central areas of the capital, causing the death of more than 300 people in around 10 minutes of bombing.
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Journalist and geopolitical expert Anwar Assi, who knows the bombed regions in Beirut, highlighted to Agência Brasil that they are civilian areas.
“This area is 100% civilian. Even Hezbollah’s offices are civilian offices. In other words, according to international law, they cannot be attacked. The suburb of Beirut is not a militarized area. There was no reason to bomb those areas,” he said.
With family in Lebanon, Assi said Israel’s claims that they had rockets in that region are not true.
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“You can see from the destroyed buildings that there were no rockets there. The only reason for the attacks was to force the displacement of residents and create pressure on Lebanese society,” he said.
More than 1.2 million people have been displaced as a result of mass displacement orders covering around 15% of the country, according to Ocha data.
For the expert, Tel Aviv’s objective is to create thousands of displaced people who will turn against Hezbollah.
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“But this is not happening, the majority supports the resistance. Even Hezbollah’s critics have rejected a civil war against the group,” he added.
The speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, reaffirmed this Friday that national unity and civil peace are “a red line” that should not be crossed under any circumstances, warning that undermining them serves Israel’s objectives, according to the country’s National News Agency.
Israel claims that it attacks Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, also accusing the group of using civilian infrastructure for military purposes, which is denied by the Shiite organization.
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South Lebanon
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says the operation in southern Lebanon seeks to create a depopulated zone up to the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the border between the two countries.
On Thursday (16), Netanyahu reported that he was trying to take the city of Bent Jbeil, with 30,000 inhabitants.
In March, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had not allowed the thousands of people who fled southern Lebanon to return to their homes south of the Litani River.
The forced displacement of civilian populations is considered another war crime.
On the last day before the ceasefire, Israel bombed the last remaining bridge over the Litani River, the Qasmiyeh Bridge, isolating the southern region from the rest of the country and cutting off connections between the cities of Tire and Sidon. In response, a temporary bridge was built to allow residents to return.
Lebanese-Brazilian Hussein Melhem, 45, lived with his family in the city of Tire (or Tyre) until the recent phase of the war began on March 2. He moved to the metropolitan area of Beirut and does not yet know when he will be able to return to Tyre.
“I want to go back this week, but the queue has to be shortened a little because there is a struggle to get back to the south, there are a lot of people,” he said, adding that he is not sure that the truce can last.
“We must wait for the next developments.”
Geopolitical expert Anwar Assi told Agência Brasil that Israel’s actions in southern Lebanon constitute ethnic cleansing to expel residents of the region and take over these territories.
“The main objective of the war is the expulsion of people from southern Lebanon. That’s why they destroyed schools, hospitals, government buildings and all units that could support the return of civilians. They destroyed them precisely so that these people who returned to their cities would not find any type of support”, highlighted Assi.
