Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings, displaced people and healthcare workers in Lebanon raise concerns under international law and may amount to war crimes, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 886 people in Lebanon and forced more than 1 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities. The U.N. human rights office called for an investigation into deadly strikes on displaced people sheltering in tents along Beirut's seafront and on a healthcare centre in the town of Bint Jbeil.
About one fifth of people in Lebanon have been registered as displaced following large-scale Israeli-issued evacuation orders across southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs. The speed of displacement reflects the scale of the violence. "Displacement is increasing incredibly quickly. Right now, hundreds of thousands of people left their homes, many leaving with very little, just the clothes they were wearing," UN humanitarian coordinator Imran Riza said.
The UN human rights office identified a critical distinction under international law. "International law is very clear that deliberately attacking civilians or civilian object amounts to war crime," a UN spokesman said. Israel's extension of evacuation orders to include the region between the Litani and Zaharani rivers may amount to forced displacement, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Israel has defended its military operations as essential to national security. Israel's military has said it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, and frames a ground operation it has launched in Lebanon as a defensive effort to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks. Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said operations aim to push threats away from the border and ensure long-term security for Israeli residents. The military also says more than 400 of Hezbollah's fighters have been killed since March 2.
The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly. Aid deliveries have been constrained by global donor cuts to funding and supply chain disruption, with only three aid flights to Lebanon in the past week. An air bridge used by Gulf countries to send in humanitarian aid during a 2023-2024 war is not operating because of airspace restrictions during the current wider conflict.
The UN and partners have appealed for US$308.3 million to fund a government-led response and rapidly scale up aid for a three-month period from March to May 2026. However, funding gaps are severe. According to humanitarian organisations on the ground, the humanitarian response "is struggling to keep pace with the scale of the displacement crisis" with "not enough resources, not enough essential supplies, and not enough funding to meet the immense needs".
The situation raises fundamental questions about the costs of extended conflict on civilian populations. Entire families are sleeping in makeshift tents on the streets, exposed to harsh weather, while others remain in temporary shelters or with host communities where overcrowding is reaching breaking point. With displacement comes concerns about access to proper healthcare, sufficient food and drinking water.
International law sets clear parameters for armed conflict, but enforcing those standards across a fluid Middle Eastern crisis presents formidable challenges. Both Israel and Hezbollah face allegations of conduct incompatible with civilian protection. The UN has documented Hezbollah launching rockets from populated areas, and Hezbollah fighters have launched indiscriminate barrages of rockets at Israel, injuring people and causing damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
Yet the humanitarian toll on Lebanese civilians is undeniable. Whether formal investigations into potential war crimes proceed, and what consequences might follow, remain uncertain. What is clear is that Lebanon's civilian population has become caught between two warring parties, with limited safe passage and dwindling international support at a moment of maximum need.