UN office sees evidence of war crimes in Lebanon

News blog about the war in the Middle East

UN office sees evidence of war crimes by Israel

A ship has apparently passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s foreign minister calls Pakistani mediators. All developments in the news blog.

The UN human rights office sees signs of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon. The office has documented numerous fatal attacks on health workers and journalists, said spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan in Geneva. On Wednesday, the Israeli military reportedly hindered medics from providing aid after a journalist was killed and a photographer was injured in an attack.

“Medical personnel, whether military or civilian, as well as other civilians, including journalists, enjoy protection under international humanitarian law. Targeting them would constitute a war crime,” the spokesman said.

In the afternoon, Israel again accused the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which it says it is fighting in Lebanon, of using ambulances and medical teams as a cover to transport weapons and fighters. The Israeli army has also said in the past that it does not target journalists. Most of the journalists killed in the recent attacks worked for Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets. Israel sometimes accused them of being members of the terrorist organization. The information cannot be independently verified.

The UN Human Rights Office has released a report on the first three weeks of Israel’s attacks against Hezbollah. “Our analysis of large-scale attacks, shelling and ground offensives found that Israel Defense Forces’ operations in Lebanon involved direct attacks on civilians, including medical personnel,” the spokesman said. The destruction of multi-story residential buildings could constitute a serious violation of international law, as could the displacement of more than a million people. The same applies to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks in northern Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke on the phone with Pakistani mediators. In separate talks with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and the country’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, “regional developments and issues related to the ceasefire” were discussed, a report by the state news agency Irna said.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally extended the ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday without a clear end. Shortly before, Iran had refused to take part in further negotiations in Pakistan. Pakistan is mediating in the conflict. Negotiators from the conflicting parties met in Islamabad for a first round of talks. This ended without result.