UN experts voice alarm at Israel-Lebanon conflict, urge immediate cessation of hostilities

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - UN experts on Monday said they are alarmed by the escalation of attacks between Israel and Lebanon, urging an immediate cessation of hostilities amid risks of spillage to the whole region.

"The ballooning violence adds immensely to the instability and the ongoing suffering of civilians in the wider region, including in Palestine," the experts said in a statement.

They accused Israel of using the "same destructive violence" seen in the nearly year-old war on Gaza but now in Lebanon.

"We firmly condemn Israel’s use of the same destructive violence that was applied in Gaza to its attacks on Lebanon, suggesting that attacks on civilians are justified because Hezbollah members allegedly hide among them and use civilians as human shields," they said.

The experts said Israel's airstrikes in densely populated areas of Lebanon, where residential buildings are being destroyed with inadequate evacuation warnings, may violate international humanitarian law. They argued the strikes fail the principles of distinction, proportionality, precaution, and necessity, potentially constituting domicide due to the mass destruction of homes

"The escalation and expansion of attacks against civilians, which we now see in Lebanon, comes on top of a genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, which we have condemned for months," they said.

They also voiced concern about the harm caused by rockets and missiles launched by Hezbollah into Israel since last Oct 7, nearly a year ago..

"We urgently call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and swift intervention by the UN Security Council to fully discharge its role and prevent further escalation of violence and arbitrary displacement, ensure protection of civilians on all sides, investigate the crimes committed and further strengthen the UN’s protective presence in the region," they concluded.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 960 people and injuring over 2,770 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah leaders have been killed in the assault, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, most of them women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.