TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1
Deliberate destruction or
‘collateral damage’? 2
International humanitarian
law and war crimes 4
The damage to the
infrastructure 6
Civilian homes
7
Water facilities
8
Electricity and fuel
supply 9
Environmental damage
10
Roads and bridges
11
Airports
13
Ports
13
Hospitals
14
Communications
15
Economic
infrastructure 16
Blockades
18
The need for an international
investigation 20
Israel/Lebanon
Deliberate destruction or
"collateral damage"? Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure
"The civilian population in
Lebanon and in northern Israel have been the biggest losers in
this senseless cycle of violence that is now exactly one month
old...Civilians were supposed to be spared and in this conflict
they are not."
Jan Egeland, UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs, 10 August 2006
Introduction
Between 12 July and 14 August, a
major military confrontation took place between Hizbullah and
Israel, following the capture of two Israeli soldiers, and the
killing of others, by Hizbullah in a raid across the border
between Israel and Lebanon. Israel conducted attacks throughout
Lebanon from land, sea and air, killing some 1,000 civilians.
Hizbullah launched thousands of rockets on northern Israel,
killing some 40 civilians. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in
Israel and Lebanon were displaced.
The briefing that follows
summarizes Amnesty International’s initial assessment and
concerns on the massive destruction of civilian infrastructure
in Lebanon that has taken place during the conflict. It is based
on first-hand information from a field mission which has visited
Lebanon; interviews with dozens of victims of the attacks;
official statements and press accounts; discussions with UN,
Israeli military and Lebanese government officials; and talks
with Israeli and Lebanese non-governmental groups.
The briefing does not cover in
any detail the broader implications of the bombing campaign. It
does not evaluate the extent of the human rights impact,
including violations of the rights to life or economic, social
and cultural rights such as the right to food, health and
housing, and does not address longer-term economic impact and
the massive internal and cross-border displacement. Nor does it
address the attacks by Hizbullah into Israel and their impact on
civilians – these are being addressed elsewhere. This briefing
highlights one aspect of the conflict, but underlines the need
for an urgent and comprehensive international inquiry into the
conduct of the hostilities by both parties.
Since the conflict began, Amnesty
International has sent delegates to both Israel and Lebanon and
has publicly appealed to both the Israeli government and
Hizbullah to abide by the principles of international
humanitarian law. Amnesty International members and supporters
around the world have campaigned for a ceasefire, have called
for safe passage for trapped civilians and have urged Israel and
Lebanon to consent to an investigation by an independent and
impartial body into the pattern of attacks by both Israel and
Hizbullah.
Deliberate destruction or
‘collateral damage’?
During more than four weeks of
ground and aerial bombardment of Lebanon by the Israeli armed
forces, the country’s infrastructure suffered destruction on a
catastrophic scale. Israeli forces pounded buildings into the
ground, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble and turning
villages and towns into ghost towns, as their inhabitants fled
the bombardments. Main roads, bridges and petrol stations were
blown to bits. Entire families were killed in air strikes on
their homes or in their vehicles while fleeing the aerial
assaults on their villages. Scores lay buried beneath the rubble
of their houses for weeks, as the Red Cross and other rescue
workers were prevented from accessing the areas by continuing
Israeli strikes. The hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who fled
the bombardment now face the danger of unexploded munitions as
they head home.
The Israeli Air Force launched
more than 7,000 air attacks on about 7,000 targets in Lebanon
between 12 July and 14 August, while the Navy conducted an
additional 2,500 bombardments.(1) The attacks, though
widespread, particularly concentrated on certain areas. In
addition to the human toll – an estimated 1,183 fatalities,
about one third of whom have been children(2), 4,054 people
injured and 970,000Lebanese people displaced(3) – the civilian
infrastructure was severely damaged. The Lebanese government
estimates that 31 "vital points" (such as airports, ports, water
and sewage treatment plants, electrical facilities) have been
completely or partially destroyed, as have around 80 bridges and
94 roads.(4) More than 25 fuel stations(5) and around 900
commercial enterprises were hit. The number of residential
properties, offices and shops completely destroyed exceeds
30,000.(6) Two government hospitals – in Bint Jbeil and in Meis
al-Jebel – were completely destroyed in Israeli attacks and
three others were seriously damaged.(7)
In a country of fewer than four
million inhabitants, more than 25 per cent of them took to the
roads as displaced persons. An estimated 500,000 people sought
shelter in Beirut alone, many of them in parks and public
spaces, without water or washing facilities.
Amnesty International delegates
in south Lebanon reported that in village after village the
pattern was similar: the streets, especially main streets, were
scarred with artillery craters along their length. In some cases
cluster bomb impacts were identified. Houses were singled out
for precision-guided missile attack and were destroyed, totally
or partially, as a result. Business premises such as
supermarkets or food stores and auto service stations and petrol
stations were targeted, often with precision-guided munitions
and artillery that started fires and destroyed their contents.
With the electricity cut off and food and other supplies not
coming into the villages, the destruction of supermarkets and
petrol stations played a crucial role in forcing local residents
to leave. The lack of fuel also stopped residents from getting
water, as water pumps require electricity or fuel-fed
generators.
Israeli government spokespeople
have insisted that they were targeting Hizbullah positions and
support facilities, and that damage to civilian infrastructure
was incidental or resulted from Hizbullah using the civilian
population as a "human shield". However, the pattern and scope
of the attacks, as well as the number of civilian casualties and
the amount of damage sustained, makes the justification ring
hollow. The evidence strongly suggests that the extensive
destruction of public works, power systems, civilian homes and
industry was deliberate and an integral part of the military
strategy, rather than "collateral damage" – incidental damage to
civilians or civilian property resulting from targeting military
objectives.
Statements by Israeli military
officials seem to confirm that the destruction of the
infrastructure was indeed a goal of the military campaign. On 13
July, shortly after the air strikes began, the Israel Defence
Force (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Dan Halutz noted that all
Beirut could be included among the targets if Hizbullah rockets
continued to hit northern Israel: "Nothing is safe [in Lebanon],
as simple as that,"(8) he said.
Three days later,
according to the Jerusalem
Post newspaper, a high
ranking IDF officer threatened that Israel would destroy
Lebanese power plants if Hizbullah fired long-range missiles at
strategic installations in northern Israel.(9) On 24 July, at a
briefing by a high-ranking Israeli Air Force officer, reporters
were told that the IDF Chief of Staff had ordered the military
to destroy 10 buildings in Beirut for every Katyusha rocket
strike on Haifa.(10) His comments were later condemned by the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel.(11) According to the
New York Times,
the IDF Chief of Staff said the air strikes were aimed at
keeping pressure on Lebanese officials, and delivering a message
to the Lebanese government that they must take responsibility
for Hizbullah’s actions. He called Hizbullah "a cancer" that
Lebanon must get rid of, "because if they don’t their country
will pay a very high price." (12)
The widespread destruction of
apartments, houses, electricity and water services, roads,
bridges, factories and ports, in addition to several statements
by Israeli officials, suggests a policy of punishing both the
Lebanese government and the civilian population in an effort to
get them to turn against Hizbullah. Israeli attacks did not
diminish, nor did their pattern appear to change, even when it
became clear that the victims of the bombardment were
predominantly civilians, which was the case from the first days
of the conflict.
International humanitarian law
and war crimes
International humanitarian law
governs the conduct of war, and seeks to protect civilians,
others not participating in the hostilities, and civilian
objects. In an armed conflict, military forces must distinguish
between civilian objects, which may not be attacked, and
military objectives, which, subject to certain conditions, may
be. The principle of distinction is a cornerstone of the laws of
war.
Military objectives are those
that: "by their nature, location, purpose or use make an
effective contribution to military action and whose total or
partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the
circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military
advantage." Civilian objects are "all objects which are not
military objectives". Objects which are normally considered
"civilian objects" may, under certain circumstances, become
legitimate military objectives if they are "being used to make
an effective contribution to military action". However, in case
of doubt about such use, the object must be presumed to be
civilian.
Direct attacks against civilian
objects are prohibited, as are indiscriminate attacks.
Indiscriminate attacks are those which strike military
objectives and civilian objects without distinction. One form of
indiscriminate attack is treating clearly separate and distinct
military objects located in a city, town, village or
concentration of civilians, as a single military objective. If
two buildings in a residential area are identified as containing
fighters, bombardment of the entire area would be unlawful.
Disproportionate attacks, also
prohibited, are those in which the "collateral damage" would be
regarded as excessive in relation to the direct military
advantage to be gained. Israel maintains that the military
advantage in this context "is not of that specific attack but of
the military operation as a whole".(13)
This interpretation is too wide.
Overbroad interpretations of what constitutes a military
objective or military advantage are often used to justify
attacks aimed at harming the economy of a state or demoralizing
the civilian population. Such interpretations undermine civilian
immunity. A legitimate military advantage cannot be one that is
merely "a potential or indeterminate advantage". If weakening
the enemy population’s resolve to fight were considered a
legitimate objective of armed forces, there would be no limit to
war.
Israel has launched widespread
attacks against public civilian infrastructure, including power
plants, bridges, main roads, seaports and Beirut’s international
airport. Such objects are presumed to be civilian. Israeli
officials told Amnesty International that the potential military
use of certain items, such as electricity and fuel, renders them
legitimate military targets. However, even if it could be argued
that some of these objects could qualify as military objectives
(because they serve a dual purpose), Israel is obligated to
ensure that attacking these objects would not violate the
principle of proportionality. For example, a road that can be
used for military transport is still primarily civilian in
nature. The military advantage anticipated from destroying the
road must be measured against the likely effect on civilians,
especially the most vulnerable, such as those requiring urgent
medical attention. The same considerations apply to electricity
and fuel, among other items.
Similarly critical is the
obligation that Israel take "constant care to spare civilians,
the civilian population, civilian objects, from attack". This
requirement to take precautionary measures in launching attacks
includes choosing only means and methods of attack "with a view
to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of
civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian
objects".
It is also forbidden to use
starvation as a method of warfare, or to attack, destroy, remove
or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the
civilian population. Some of the targets chosen – water pumping
stations and supermarkets, for example – raise the possibility
that Israel may have violated the prohibition against targeting
objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian
population.
Israel has asserted that
Hizbullah fighters have enmeshed themselves in the civilian
population for the purpose of creating "human shields". While
the use of civilians to shield a combatant from attack is a war
crime, under international humanitarian law such use does not
release the opposing party from its obligations towards the
protection of the civilian population.
Many of the violations examined
in this report are war crimes that give rise to individual
criminal responsibility. They include directly attacking
civilian objects and carrying out indiscriminate or
disproportionate attacks. People against whom there is prima
facie evidence of responsibility for the commission of these
crimes are subject to criminal accountability anywhere in the
world through the exercise of universal jurisdiction.
The damage to the
infrastructure
The long-term impact of the
destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure on the lives of the
country’s men, women and children is incalculable. Many have
lost their homes while having to cope with the deaths of loved
ones or struggling to overcome severe injuries. Many more have
lost their livelihoods. Records showing home and property
ownership have been destroyed, adding to the difficulties of
rebuilding lives.
The head of the country’s Council
for Development and Reconstruction, Fadl Shalak, said on 16
August that the damage incurred amounted to US $3.5 billion: US
$2 billion for buildings and US $1.5 billion for infrastructure
such as bridges, roads, and power plants.(14) A survey compiled
by the Council, based on on-site inspections in central and
northern Lebanon and telephone calls to engineers and municipal
officials in the south, showed the worst damage to the road
network, with more than 120 bridges destroyed (a significantly
higher figure than that reported by the government). Fadl Shalak
said that replacing the bridge connecting Mount Lebanon to the
Bekaa Valley above the Sulfi River on the road to Damascus would
cost an estimated US $65 million. "A beautiful bridge, its
columns 70 meters, it’s one of a kind in the whole Middle East.
Why would they destroy such a bridge?" he asked. "They could
have bombed the beginning and the end and stopped the traffic.
But they made a point to bomb this bridge several times."(15)
Another observer said, "This bridge is not used by Hizbullah
since it lies in a mountain resort area of Mount Lebanon, far
away from the south of Lebanon. Hence it has no strategic value
for the Israeli fight against Hizbullah. But it was a beautiful
bridge and was the symbol of the reconstruction of Lebanon after
the civil war."(16)
Civilian homes
"It was a modest house but
it was the house in which I was born and brought up [some70
years ago]; it was where all my childhood memories were. I am
very saddened to think that it has been destroyed".
Nehmeh Joumaa, a well-known human
rights defender, talking to Amnesty International soon after
learning of the destruction of his family home in Bint Jbeil.
Thousands of civilian houses were
destroyed in the Israeli bombardment in various parts of Lebanon
– notably in villages and towns south of the Litani river, in
the suburbs of the capital Beirut and in the town of Baalbak and
its surroundings.
According to the United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) fact
sheet of 16 August, 15,000 civilian homes – houses and
apartments – were destroyed. This figure is almost certainly an
underestimate. The same document reports: "An inter-agency
assessment mission to the southern suburbs of Beirut also
observed extensive destruction although the full extent is still
being assessed. 2,500 housing units have reportedly been
destroyed in Haret Hreik and a further 5,000 damaged."(17)
Amnesty International delegates
visiting towns and villages in south Lebanon found that in
village after village houses had been subject to heavy artillery
shelling as well as having been destroyed by precision-guided,
air-delivered munitions. The accuracy of these munitions and
their trajectory were such that they struck one or more of the
main support systems causing the building to collapse or
partially collapse under its own weight. In Beirut a vast area
of densely populated high-rise buildings, which were home to
tens of thousands of people most of whom left apparently
encouraged by Hizbullah for their own safety, was reduced to
rubble by repeated air strikes.
According to the United Nations
Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), on 15 August, 80 per cent of
the civilian houses had been destroyed in the village of
Tayyabah, 50 per cent in the villages of Markaba and Qantarah,
30 per cent in Mais al-Jebel, 20 per cent in Hula, and 15 per
cent in Talusha.(18) The following day, UNIFIL reported that in
the village of Ghanduriyah 80 per cent of the civilian houses
had been destroyed, 60 per cent in the village of Zibqin, 50 per
cent in Jabal al-Butm and Bayyadah, 30 per cent in Bayt Leif,
and 25 per cent in Kafra.(19)
When Amnesty International
delegates visited the town of Bint Jbeil, in the far south of
the country, the centre of the city, where there had been a
market and busy commercial streets leading from it, was
devastated. Every building on the streets was destroyed,
extensively damaged or beyond repair. The streets were strewn
with the rubble and in that rubble was clear evidence of the
cause of the damage, unexploded munitions, shrapnel and craters.
The Israeli army seemed to have used every type of munition in
its arsenal, with air-delivered munitions, artillery shelling
and cluster bomb damage in evidence.
In nearby Ainata, the scene was
no different: extensive destruction of civilian houses. The
bodies of some of those who had been killed when their homes
where destroyed in the second and third week of July, remained
under the rubble when Amnesty International delegates visited on
1 August. Their bodies could not be recovered until 14-15
August, after the ceasefire came into effect.
Yousef Wehbe, an entrepreneur who
lived for years in Latin America, told Amnesty International(20)
about the destruction of his family’s house on 21 July: "Twenty
three neighbours were sheltering in my father’s house, as it was
a more solid house than others in the area. I had spoken to my
father on the phone earlier that day and he had said: ‘I am 85
and have lived through all the wars but none were ever like this
one; I don’t know where all these bombs come from; it is like
hell’.
"A few hours later, the house was
shelled by the Israeli army and he was killed and my sister’s
husband was injured; luckily he survived. But a neighbour who
went over to the corner of the room where my father was struck
was also hit and killed. Until now I don’t know if my own house,
which is in a different part of the village from my father’s
house, is still standing; some people said it was destroyed and
others said it is still there. I don’t know; and I can’t go to
the village because of the Israeli bombardments. I put a lot of
effort and work into my house and the garden. I have been
building it since 2000 and I was still adding and improving. And
the garden is beautiful, I spend much of my time in the garden
when I go back to the village. If the house is destroyed I will
have to rebuild it. Our family home had been destroyed once
before in 1970 and we rebuilt it. Now it has again been
destroyed. And if my own house has also been destroyed I’ll have
to rebuild it."
Water facilities
Wells, water mains, storage
tanks, pumping stations and water treatment works have been
destroyed throughout south Lebanon. The water service in the
entire country has also been disrupted, as water pipes running
beneath roads have been extensively damaged when the roads above
have been bombed. The cost of the damage to water facilities was
estimated by the Lebanese government to be more than US $70
million, as of 8 August.
The damaged and destroyed water
facilities include four wells at Fakr al-Din, as well as the
pipes between the Fakr al-Din station and Wadi al-Rashid.
Storage tanks in Sidon district, Bint Jbeil and al-Wazani were
damaged or destroyed. Two pumping stations were destroyed in the
Baalbak-al-Asseera region, as well as the water line between
Sebaat and al-Dulbi. In the al-Litani area, the al-Qasimiyya
channel, Channel 900 and the line from Joun to al-Awwali were
hit.
Such extensive damage to water
facilities carries a grave risk of disease. Daniel Toole of the
United Nations Children’s Fund, noted that the lack of clean
water was becoming life-threatening in south Lebanon during the
fighting, where Israel’s bombardment of roads and bridges has
also cut off outside water supplies. "Sanitation is a big
issue," he said. "Without proper sanitation children will get
diarrhoea, they will get sick and they will die."
The International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) also noted that lack of access to villages
in the south meant remaining inhabitants had been largely
without clean water. Some who had fled the border village of
Rmeish told ICRC delegates that local people were drinking foul
water from an irrigation ditch.
As noted above, international
humanitarian law seeks to protect objects indispensable to the
survival of the civilian population. While water pipes might
sustain collateral damage, it appears that storage tanks,
pumping stations and water treatment plants have been directly
targeted by Israeli forces, and it is difficult to understand
how they could have been regarded as military objectives.
Moreover, even if some objective were military, there is little
evidence to suggest that Israel exercised the requisite level of
precaution to take constant care to avoid the loss of civilian
life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.
Electricity and fuel supply
Electrical facilities, power
plants and fuel stations have suffered extensive damage. At
least 20 fuel depots have been completely destroyed in bombing
raids and 25 petrol stations have been destroyed or severely
damaged. A statement of 14 July noted: "IDF air and naval forces
attacked three gasoline stations in southern Lebanon as part of
the effort to damage the Lebanese infrastructure that works to
support terror activity." (21)
The south of the country was
completely without power by the time the ceasefire was
announced. Electrical lines and cables across the country have
been cut, and the destruction of the roads and bridges, as well
as access restrictions imposed by the Israeli military, have
prevented repair and assessment crews from working. Electrical
supply in Beirut remains intermittent, and averaged about 12
hours a day at the close of the conflict. Israeli air strikes on
the weekend of 12 and 13 August, immediately before the
ceasefire came into effect, left the cities of Sidon and Tyre
without electricity. The cost of the damage to the electricity
sector is estimated at about US $208 million.
Environmental damage
The attack on Lebanon’s largest
power station at Jiyyeh had both an immediate adverse impact on
the population, and long-term implications for the environment
and the economy. Israeli forces bombed the Jiyyeh power station,
about 25km south of Beirut, and its fuel tanks on 13 July and
again on 15 July. The resulting fire, which burned for three
weeks, coated the surrounding areas with a fine white dust of
pulverized concrete and filled the air with black soot. In
addition, that attack caused 15,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil to
leak into the sea. The oil slick has contaminated more than
150km of the Lebanese coastline, and has spread north into
Syrian waters. The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)
has characterized it as one of the worst environmental disasters
seen in the region. The cost of a comprehensive clean-up was
estimated to be US $150 million, with work taking up to a year.
"The recent oil spill off the
coast of Lebanon is an environmental disaster, and may affect
the livelihood, health and future prospect of Lebanon and the
surrounding countries," said Stavros Dimas, the European
Commissioner in charge of efforts to contain the damage.(22)
According to the Lebanese
environmental NGO Greenline: "The fuel tanks released a cloud of
polyaromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and particulate matter, and
all of these could cause cancer, respiratory problems and
hormonal problems."
Achim Steiner, Under Secretary
General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UNEP
said: "It is … a sad fact that the environment - so vividly
underlined by the oil slick and the blackened, damaged coastline
- is also a victim with all the repercussions for livelihoods,
human health, economic development, ecosystems, fisheries,
tourism and rare and endangered wildlife."(23) The damage to two
of the emerging sectors of the Lebanese economy – tourism, which
was projected before the conflict to generate 12 per cent of the
nation’s gross domestic product this year, and commercial
fishing – has not yet been assessed.
The bombing of electricity
transformers such as the one that was hit in Sidon on 12 August
released polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the atmosphere.
Lebanon still uses transformers that contain parts that were
made with PCBs, despite an international ban on the substance.
Greenpeace has warned that PCBs "are chemicals that are
bio-accumulative and persistent so when you inhale them they
stay in your body, and they cause cancer".
The bombing of factories that
made products such as glass, foodstuffs and plastics also
released these chemicals and chlorine into the atmosphere in
central areas of Lebanon, potentially affecting up to two
million people.(24)
Under international humanitarian
law, care must be taken to protect the environment against
widespread, long-term and severe damage. Methods or means of
warfare which are intended or may be expected to cause such
damage are forbidden.
Roads and bridges
Roads and bridges, despite their
use primarily by civilians, have been declared a target by the
Israeli military. The extensive damage to the land
transportation network during the first three weeks of bombing
alone has been estimated by the Lebanese government at more than
US $300 million. The Israeli government stated on 14 July that:
"The roads in Lebanon are used to transport terrorists and
weapons to the terror organizations operating from Lebanese
territory against civilians in Israel."(25) The Lebanese
government’s list of roads damaged to 31 July indicates that
repeated Israeli shelling had put nearly 100 roads largely out
of commission, with some 200,000 square metres of road
completely destroyed.
Amnesty International’s delegates
in Lebanon saw many roads hit by precision-guided munitions
whose warheads created craters 4m – 5m deep and about 7m wide.
This cratering has generally been justified as necessary to
impede the movement of Hizbullah fighters, but more often than
not the craters did not close the road, as they were to the side
rather than in the middle of the road. Travel by car remained
possible by simply driving around the craters, although it
impeded trucks carrying supplies and aid.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture
Organization warned that damage to roads and bridges interrupted
the food supply chain in Lebanon, providing the recipe for "a
major food crisis". When the Israeli air force severed Lebanon’s
last significant road link to Syria on 4 August, it stopped a
convoy carrying 150 tonnes of relief and cut what the UN called
its "umbilical cord" for aid supplies. Israel said it had
destroyed the bridges along Lebanon’s main north-south coastal
road to prevent Syria from rearming Hizbullah.
The number of bridges destroyed
has been put at about 80 by the Lebanese government, and 120 by
the Council for Development and Reconstruction. Some bridges
were repaired, only to be bombed again. On 7 August OCHA
reported that Israeli forces had again bombed a temporary bridge
over the Litani River, cutting off road access between Tyre,
Sidon and Beirut. The original bridge had already been destroyed
by Israeli strikes. As a result, Tyre, Lebanon’s fourth largest
city with a population of more than 100,000 and sheltering
additional tens of thousands more displaced people, was cut off
from relief supplies.
On 6 August, officials of UNIFIL
again attempted to secure a go-ahead from the Israeli
authorities to build a new temporary bridge over the Litani
river to facilitate the transport of vital humanitarian supplies
to the beleaguered residents of the south. Israel denied
permission, warning that any new bridge would also be blown up.
According to UN officials, the Israeli military said that UNIFIL
engineers would themselves become a target if they attempted any
repairs to the bridge. The Israeli military also warned that any
movement south of the Litani River would be prohibited, with the
exception of UNIFIL and Red Cross vehicles, and that any other
moving object would be attacked. A Médecins sans Frontičres (MSF)
convoy transporting emergency medical supplies and fuel was
stuck north of the Litani on 7 August, and had to pass four
tonnes of supplies via a human chain over a distance of 500m. A
tree trunk was used as a makeshift bridge.
"Because the crossing is out, we
had to transfer by hand, which left us very exposed," said
Christopher Stokes, MSF Coordinator in Lebanon. "Although we had
not received any security guarantees, the decision was taken to
go ahead because the convoy contained very urgently needed
medical and surgical supplies, especially if fighting near Sour
[Tyre] keeps increasing… And our convoy travelling from Sour
[Tyre] had a close escape when two explosions occurred just 100m
away from them. [Surveillance] drones and jets could be heard
all along the trip."
Under international humanitarian
law, the parties to a conflict must allow and facilitate rapid
and unimpeded passage of all relief consignments, equipment and
personnel, protect relief consignments and facilitate their
rapid distribution. In addition, the personnel participating in
humanitarian relief actions, as well as the objects used for
humanitarian relief operations, must be respected and protected.
Airports
All of Lebanon’s airports have
been attacked, some repeatedly, including Beirut’s international
airport. The Beirut airport was one of the first targets to be
struck; a first aerial attack turned the airport’s fuel tanks
into fireballs, while a second wave left craters in the three
main runways. While the central facilities, including the
control tower, were spared, the airport was rendered
inoperative. Two days later, according to CNN: "In an unusual
deal that the United States helped broker, a runway at the
Beirut airport was repaired long enough to enable six planes –
one carrying former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati – to
take off. Israeli forces soon after bombed the runway again."
The damage as of 31 July was estimated at US $55 million by the
Lebanese government.
An IDF statement issued on 14
July noted that the airport and its fuel tanks had been targeted
because it "is used as a central hub for the transfer of weapons
and supplies to Hizbullah". However, the statement suggested
that the attacks were also intended as part of the policy of
making the Lebanese government "pay a high price" for hosting
Hizbullah: "The Lebanese government is blatantly violating the
resolution of the UN Security Council which calls, among other
things, for the removal of the Hizbullah terrorist organization
from the Lebanese border, and is therefore fully responsible for
the current situation."
Ports
Israeli forces attacked seaports
along the coast, including three of the country’s main ones – in
Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon. A missile from an Israeli combat
helicopter put out of use Beirut’s modern lighthouse on 15 July,
and an antenna vital for maritime operations was hit in Tripoli
on 18 July. The old lighthouse was also hit. It is difficult to
see what legitimate purpose these attacks could have had, given
that the Israeli Navy was blockading the port anyway.
On 17 July, the Israeli Air Force
launched a pre-dawn attack on the port of Beirut, striking a
fuel tank, which exploded, killing two workers. The port of
Beirut, which had been badly damaged in previous conflicts, had
recently undergone an extensive reconstruction programme.
The Israeli Air Force also struck
at the seaport in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, also
in the north of the country.
Hospitals
Hospitals in many parts of the
country have sustained shelling damage, particularly in the
south, but the main threat to their continued operation came
from fuel shortages, road destruction and the ongoing blockade.
Two government hospitals – in Bint Jbeil and in Meis al-Jebel –
were completely destroyed in Israeli attacks and three others
were seriously damaged.(26)
The Lebanese Ministry of Public
Health estimated that around 60 per cent of the country’s
hospitals had ceased to function as of 12 August due to fuel
shortages. Eight hospitals, including three in the southern
suburbs of Beirut, were forced to close because bombs were
falling around them daily.(27)
One hospital, alleged by Israel
to be a Hizbullah headquarters, was directly attacked. On 2
August, Israeli commandos in helicopters, supported by fighter
planes and drones, raided al-Hikmah hospital in Baalbak in the
eastern Bekaa valley. The Israeli army said they captured five
Hizbullah members there. However, according to local residents,
the five were not captured at the hospital but in the home of
one of them.(28) They added that one of those seized local
merchant Hassan Nasrallah, had been confused with the Hizbullah
leader who has the same name. Reuters reported that the
supporting air strikes killed 19 people, including four
children. A statement from the IDF said that "Hezbollah weapons,
computers, computer storage media, and a large amount of vital
intelligence materials were seized. Ten terrorists were killed
during the operation and five others were captured by Israeli
forces. There were no IDF or civilian casualties."
There were reports that al-Hikmah
hospital was subsequently razed in an air strike, but
journalists who visited five days later found the building still
standing, although they noted that "there is no question there
was a fight. The rear of the hospital showed heavy damage, and
much of it is pockmarked with bullets and small mortars. There
are burned-out cars in the hospital parking lot, and a field
just beyond is burned down to scorched grasses.".(29)
The hospital was reportedly
financed by an Iranian charity with links to Hizbullah. A
Hizbullah official in Beirut was cited as saying the hospital
had been evacuated several days earlier as a precaution after
Israeli forces attempted an earlier, similar operation.
In the village of Tebnine, in
South Lebanon, only hours before the ceasefire came into effect
on 14 August, Israeli forces fired cluster bombs all around the
government hospital, where hundreds of civilians were
sheltering, damaging its outer walls. Residents of nearby
villages, including elderly and disabled people who had not been
able to reach the next main town of Tyre, had sought shelter
there. The Israeli army had been shelling the surrounding of the
hospital since the end of July and those sheltering in the
hospital were afraid to leave.
Hospitals are by nature "civilian
objects" and may not be attacked unless they are being used for
military purposes. If Hizbullah was indeed using the al-Hikmah
hospital as a headquarters or base, then they rendered it
subject to attack, although Israel would still have been under
an obligation to take precautions to protect civilians and avoid
the loss of life or injury to civilians.
Communications
Israeli air raids on 22 July hit
several transmission stations used by Lebanese television and
radio stations. These included Future TV, New TV, and the
Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBCI), none of which had any
links with Hizbullah, as well as the Hizbullah-backed al-Manar
TV. They were also used by mobile phone networks. One LBCI
official, Suleyman Shidiac, Chief Engineer at the relay station
at Fatqa in the Kesrwan mountains north-east of Beirut, was
killed and two others were injured.
Israeli forces have repeatedly
targeted Hizbullah’s al-Manar television station, for example
with three strikes in as many days from 14 July. The
transmitters and relay stations of several other Lebanese
television stations have also been attacked. According to the
IDF: "Al Manar has for many years served as the main tool for
propaganda and incitement by Hezbollah, and has also helped the
organization recruit people into its ranks. Hezbollah operates
undisturbed from within Lebanon, and constitutes a severe
terrorist threat to the people of Israel and to IDF soldiers."
An IDF official told Amnesty International delegates that al-Manar
was being used for military communications, but failed to
provide any evidence to support this claim when questioned.
The fact that al-Manar television
broadcasts propaganda in support of Hizbullah’s attacks against
Israel does not render it a legitimate military objective. Only
if the television station were being used to transmit orders to
Hizbullah fighters or for other clearly military purposes could
it be considered to be making "an effective contribution to
military action". Even then, Israel would need to take required
precautions in attacking it and choose a manner aimed to avoid
harm to civilians. Amnesty International is not aware of claims
by Israel that the other stations were performing military
functions.
Dozens of mobile telephone masts
have been struck, disabling many mobile telephone networks, and
ordinary telephone lines and exchanges have suffered extensive
damage, estimated at US $99 million.
Economic infrastructure
Privately owned factories and
businesses across the country – economic entities whose
destruction could not be seen to offer a military advantage
outweighing the damage to civilians – have also been subjected
to a series of debilitating air strikes, dealing a further
crippling blow to the shattered economy.
The Lebanese
government estimated that unemployment in the country has now
reached an approximate figure of 75 per cent.(30)
The production facilities of
companies in key industrial sectors, including Liban Lait in
Baalbak, the country’s largest dairy farm; the Maliban glass
works in Ta’neil, Zahleh; the Sada al-Din plastics factory in
Tyre; the Fine tissue paper mill in Kafr Jara, Sidon; the Tabara
pharmaceutical plant in Showeifat, Aaliyah; the Transmed
shipping warehouse on the outskirts of Beirut; and the Snow
lumbermill in Showeifat, Aaliyah, have been disabled or
completely destroyed. Industry minister Pierre Gemayel said that
nearly two thirds of the industrial sector had been damaged, and
at least 23 large factories and dozens of small and medium-sized
factories had been bombed.
Waji al-Bisri,
acting head of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists,
estimated that US $200 million in direct damage was inflicted on
the industrial sector, with dairy, cement, glass and prefab
housing factories hit hardest.(31)
Nearly all shops and small businesses close to the Israeli
border have reportedly received direct hits from artillery and
air strikes.
Even before the latest attack,
large-scale factories were a rarity in Lebanon. Maliban, the
second largest glassworks in the Middle East, was an exception,
with production reaching some 200 tonnes a day for sale around
the region. It was one of five Bekaa factories destroyed. A
journalist who visited the ruined factory floor said: "It’s
impossible to discern what this space was used for. All that’s
visible is churned-up soil with twisted metal, powdered glass
and wrecked machinery. It is possible to discern the cause of
the disruption, though: four distinct craters have been gouged
out of the factory floor."(32)
One of the plant managers said:
"The planes came around 12:45 so most people were at lunch,
fortunately. Two people were killed, both Indians, and two
injured. If they had come an hour earlier or later it would have
been a massacre… they even destroyed the workers’
residence."(33)
The Liban Lait dairy farm and
plant in the Bekaa valley, the leading producer of milk and
dairy products in Lebanon, was completely destroyed in an aerial
attack on 17 July. According to a local dairy farmer, the dairy
factory was hit at 3am by a barrage of missiles, and the plant
was completely destroyed. The dairy, whose products were
distributed all over the country, employed about 400 local
staff. At least 1,500 Bekaa residents have reportedly lost their
source of livelihood.
According to the Catholic charity
Caritas in Lebanon: "The Israeli Army is making the situation
even worse for Lebanese civilians by targeting warehouses and
factories. In fact, food storage houses in particular have
become the target."(34)
Amnesty International’s delegates
noted numerous attacks on commercial outlets such as
supermarkets and automotive repair outlets. They found that
supermarkets were targeted almost certainly with the same type
of munition as aimed at houses, but seemingly delivered via a
higher trajectory in order to inflict most damage to their
interiors and to the products stored in them. In some cases,
supermarkets were set on fire. There were similar attacks on
automotive repair outlets, leading to fires. There was no
evidence that such fires were caused by stored munitions.
Shrapnel, casings and assorted debris indicated a common pattern
of destruction in all the places visited. The destruction of
supermarkets, often the single initial attack on a town or
village, seems to have been intended to hasten the departure of
the residents. The reasons behind the destruction of
auto/electro/mechanic outlets remain the subject of speculation.
For example, in the village of
Hanaway, where the pattern of damage was similar to other
villages, major commercial outlets were destroyed, including
supermarkets and also car and automotive repair workshops.
Streets were cratered, the craters being of a size probably
caused by air strikes rather than artillery. Other craters along
streets indicated heavy artillery.
Lebanese agricultural production
has likewise been badly hit, partly because the produce cannot
be transported by road, and partly due to the danger of bombing
and shelling for those working in the fields. On 4 August, for
example, missiles from Israeli aircraft hit a fruit-packing
warehouse near the Syrian border, killing at least 23 mainly
Kurdish farm workers. Citrus crops on the coastal plains of
southern Lebanon have been left to rot, while poultry farms have
been unable to obtain chicken feed due to the blockade and as
much as 80 per cent of the stock has died.
Blockades
"Any vehicle of any kind
travelling south of the Litani River will be bombarded, on
suspicion of transporting rockets, military equipment and
terrorists."
leaflet addressed to "the Lebanese people", signed the "State of
Israel", 7 August 2006(35)
Israel incapacitated Beirut’s airports, bombarded most of the
country’s bridges and arterial roads, and imposed a naval and
air blockade. Access to the south of the country even for
humanitarian agencies, was severely disrupted. With land routes
cut, the naval blockade made bringing aid shipments in by sea
impossible without military approval, which proved extremely
difficult to secure. An ICRC ship full of supplies destined for
Tyre was "red-lighted" for several days before being allowed to
dock on 12 August. Israel claims that the blockade was necessary
to cut off weapons and supplies to Hizbullah.
"The time for improved access is
long overdue," insisted ICRC head Jakob Kellenberger on 11
August. "Even life-saving, emergency evacuations so desperately
needed are, at best, delayed for days. We also face enormous
obstacles to bringing in aid convoys loaded with essential
foodstuffs, water and medicines for trapped civilians."
During the conflict, around
100,000 civilians were trapped in southern Lebanon, afraid to
flee following Israeli threats to target all moving vehicles,
and in light of Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon’s widely
reported remark: "All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists
who are related in some way to Hezbollah." Some were unable to
move because of their age or disability, or simply because they
had no access to transport. Residents were rapidly running out
of food, water and medicines, and the ICRC reported that those
who had managed to escape the region were arriving at aid
stations in increasingly desperate conditions.
By 13 August, according to the
Associated Press: "Aid convoys were stuck in ports or at
warehouses because Israel refused to guarantee their safety on
the roads. Thousands of people trapped in southern villages were
believed to have run out of food and medicine and were drinking
unsafe water."
A few days earlier, the UN’s Jan
Egeland had warned that fuel supplies would run out within days,
paralysing hospitals and shutting down electricity across the
country. "The fuel situation is the single most worrying
humanitarian crisis at the moment," he said. "If there’s one
thing that will be the most critical - even more critical than
food - over the next days and weeks, it’s fuel." At the time,
two tankers with 87,000 tonnes of fuel oil and diesel were
docked outside of Israel’s naval blockade off Lebanon’s
Mediterranean coast, but they had refused to bring the supplies
in without a written guarantee of safety.
Due to the incapacitation of
electricity supply stations, hospitals and other health centres
were relying on fuel to run generators. Power is essential to
run operating theatres, life-saving equipment including
incubators for newborns, and refrigeration for vaccines and
treatments including insulin. It is also essential for safe
water provision and hygiene.
Even north of the Litani river,
provision of much-needed food and medical assistance was
difficult to coordinate. Damage to roads and bridges by
bombardment necessitated taking lengthy detours along minor
roads or dirt tracks, through which big trucks can only pass
with difficulty.
While blockades are not
prohibited per se by international humanitarian law, they must
not prevent foodstuffs and other essential supplies from
reaching the civilian population. The parties to the conflict
may not deny consent to relief operations on arbitrary grounds,
and can only control the content and delivery of humanitarian
aid to the extent necessary to ensure that aid convoys are not
being used, for example, for military purposes.
Within days of the ceasefire, an
estimated 200,000 Lebanese had returned home, according to the
Lebanese Higher Relief Council on 16 August, including 40 per
cent of people who had been sheltering in schools and public
places.
The need for an international
investigation
Over the many years of the
conflict between Hizbullah and Israel, both sides have
repeatedly committed grave violations of international
humanitarian law without any accountability. The Israeli
authorities have investigated a few incidents, and have stated
that they are still investigating some of the incidents in the
latest outbreak of hostilities, but the methods and outcomes of
these investigations have never been properly disclosed. They
fall far short of the standards required. No investigation on
violations of international humanitarian law by Hizbullah is
known to have been conducted by the Lebanese authorities. If
respect for rules of war is ever to be taken seriously, a proper
investigation of their violation by both parties of the recent
conflict is imperative.
Amnesty International calls for
the immediate establishment of a comprehensive, independent and
impartial inquiry into violations of international humanitarian
law by both Hizbullah and Israel in the conflict. The inquiry
should examine in particular the impact of this conflict on the
civilian population. It should propose effective measures to
hold accountable those responsible for crimes under
international law, and to ensure that the victims receive full
reparation.
Amnesty International has asked
the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council to
request the UN Secretary General to establish a panel of
independent experts to conduct this inquiry. They should include
experts with proven expertise in investigating compliance with
international humanitarian and human rights law, in military
matters, as well as in forensics and ballistics. The experts
should receive all necessary assistance and resources. The
outcome of the inquiry should be made public and include
recommendations aimed at ending and preventing further
violations.
********
(1) Israel Defence Force website,
http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&docid=56765.EN
(2) Middle East Crisis UNICEF
Situation Report No. 26:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/HMYT-6SSLUF?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=SODA-6RT2S7
(3) Figures from Lebanese Higher
Relief Council:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EKOI-6ST5ZM?OpenDocument.
Within hours of the ceasefire, thousands of Lebanese began
returning to their homes: according to UNHCR, as of the evening
of 15 August, around 522,000 remained displaced.
(4)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EKOI-6ST5ZM?OpenDocument
(5) Lebanese Higher Relief
Council, 16 August 2006:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EKOI-6ST5ZM?OpenDocument
(6) Figures of the Engineers
Syndicate, released in Lebanese media 17 August 2006. Also see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EKOI-6ST5ZM
(7) Report of the Council for
Development and Reconstruction.
(8) The Times, "Our aim is to win
– nothing is safe, Israeli chiefs declare", Stephen Farrell, 14
July 2006.
(9) Jerusalem Post, "IAF
continues attack on Lebanon", 17 July 2006
(10) Jerusalem Post,
"High-ranking officer: Halutz ordered retaliation policy", 24
July 2006.
(11)
http://www.acri.org.il/english-acri/engine/story.asp?id=324
(12) New York Times, "Israel
Vowing to Rout Hezbollah", 15 July 2006.
(13) Israel Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Responding to Hizbullah attacks from Lebanon: Issues of
proportionality, 25 July 2006,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Law/Legal+Issues+and+
Rulings/Responding+to+Hizbullah+attacks+from+Lebanon-Issues+of+proportionality+July+2006.htm
(14) Relief Web: Source: Radio
Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), 16/08/06.
(15) Los Angeles Times, 13 August
2006.
(16)
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2006/07/israel_destroys.php
(17)
http://ochaonline.un.org/DocView.asp?DocID=4820
(18)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EVOD-6SPHZY
(19)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-6SQMXZ
(20) Interview on 9 August 2006.
(21) Israel Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Summary of IDF operations against Hizbullah in Lebanon,
14 July 2006:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+from+Lebanon-+Hizbullah/IDF+operations+against+Hizbullah+in+Lebanon+14-Jul-2006.htm
(22) European Commission, 17
August 2006, Reference: IP/06/1106.
(23) UNEP, 17 August 2006:
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=484&ArticleID=5334&l=en
(24) United Nations Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Integrated
Regional Information Network (IRIN), 16 August 2006.
(25) Israel Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Summary of IDF operations against Hizbullah in Lebanon,
14 July 2006:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+from+Lebanon-+Hizbullah/IDF+operations+against+Hizbullah+in+Lebanon+14-Jul-2006.htm
(26) Report of the Council for
Development and Reconstruction.
(27) Los Angeles Times, 13 August
2006.
(28) The five are Hassan
Nasrallah, his son Bilal, his daughter’s husband Hassan al-Buraji,
his sister’s husband Hassan al-‘Outa, and his neighbour Mohammad
Ali Dhiab. Amnesty International delegates interviewed Hassan
Nasrallah’s family, who testified that the five were taken from
the home of Hassan al ‘Outa, where they were sheltering as they
thought it was in a safer part of town. A sixth member of the
family, 14-year-old Mohammad Nasrallah, the son of Hassan
Nasrallah, was also captured at the same time but was released
after a few hours, seemingly because of his young age. Amnesty
International delegate visited the house where the five were
captured, in the al-‘Ousaira suburb of Baalbak. It had been
ransacked and virtually every item of furniture smashed. Several
neighbouring houses had also been completely or partially
destroyed.
(29) Betsy Pisik, "Mystery cloaks
raid on 'empty' hospital", Washington Times, 7 August 2006.
(30)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YAOI-6SR9Q5?OpenDocument
(31) Daily Star, 18 August 2006.
(32) Jim Quilty, "Israel strikes
major blow to Bekaa working class", Lebanon Daily Star, 5 August
2006.
(33) Jim Quilty, "Israel strikes
major blow to Bekaa working class", Lebanon Daily Star, 5 August
2006.
(34)http://www.caritas.org/jumpNews.asp?idChannel=3&idLang=ENG&idUser=0&idNews=4264
(35) Israel Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, IDF warns Lebanese civilians to leave danger zones, 25
|July 2006
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+from+Lebanon-+Hizbullah/IDF+warns+Lebanese+civilians+to+leave+danger+zones+3-Aug-2006.htm
