Human Rights Watch is accusing Israeli forces of carrying out war crimes in southern Lebanon in its intensified military campaign there, ongoing since early March, following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The NGO said the Israeli military is deliberately destroying homes and other personal properties and carrying out strikes against civilians with the intention of forcibly displacing them - actions which are considered war crimes.
This comes after several Israeli ministers, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, instructed the Israeli military to destroy homes belonging to Lebanese residents within proximity to the Israeli border.
Katz said that he will "permanently" displace hundreds of Lebanese, vowing that they will "not return" to their homes south of the Litani area until the safety of "Israel’s northern residents is guaranteed".
The minister also vowed to enact the "Beit Hanoun and Rafah models" used during the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, which saw the razing of homes and permanent displacement of Palestinians.
Israel's army also issued forced evacuation orders for some of Beirut’s suburbs, threatening to strike anything that’s close to what the army claims are Hezbollah facilities or individuals.
Evacuation orders have also been made for residents north of the Zahrani River, located 40 kilometres north of the Israeli border.
This has amounted to the displacement of 1.2 million Lebanese , roughly one-fifth of the population.
The sweeping nature of the displacement orders and the statements that do not address the protection of the displaced civilians raise concerns of the war crime of forced displacement, Human Rights Watch said.
Forced displacement is also prohibited under the laws of war, except in cases in which civilian security is involved, or for imperative military reasons.
The NGO also pointed to Israel’s singling out of the Shia population as a human rights violation, as such measures are being imposed based on religion and sect.
Additionally, the destruction of Lebanese homes "raises serious risk of the war crime of wanton destruction and violations of the prohibition under international law against deliberately destroying civilian property except when necessary for lawful military reasons," HRW said.
Israel’s threats to turn parts of Lebanon into Gaza, like when far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on 5 March that the Beirut suburb of Dahieh will "look like Khan Younis" in Gaza, indicate the Israeli intention of carrying out war crime-like atrocities in Lebanon, like in Gaza.
Based on such statements and previous actions in Lebanon, HRW expressed concern that Israel could target civilians based solely on their presence in or proximity to areas where Hezbollah is present.
Earlier in the conflict, HRW detected the Israeli use of white phosphorus against Lebanese residents, which is classified as a war crime.
Human Rights Watch also warned that those accused of carrying out war crimes - intentionally or recklessly - risk being prosecuted for such, and urged the Lebanese government to pursue individuals implicated in war crimes.
Those who provide Israel with weapons amid attacks in Lebanon can also be complicit in such, the NGO added.
Lebanon was dragged into the wider Middle East conflict after Israel and the US launched a joint military operation against Iran late last month, which saw the assassination of multiple Iranian high-profile officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei .
The Iran-backed Hezbollah group fired rockets into Israel in response to Khamenei’s assassination, triggering an Israeli escalation of the conflict in the country.
The intensified conflict has killed at least 1,029 people over the past few weeks, and has displaced over 1,2 million people.