The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) is alarmed by the escalating regional war and Israel’s military operation in Lebanon in blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
Since 2 March , Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes and bombardments predominantly in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and parts of the Beqaa governorate, and on 16 March, it launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon. Throughout its operation, Israel has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law, particularly by carrying out indiscriminate attacks and using unlawful weapons or methods in residential areas.
‘As long as Israel’s gross international law violations in the region are met with little more than words, there will be nothing to prevent further humanitarian devastation and lasting damage to the international legal system’, says Amna Guellali, Research Director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS).
In 2024, CIHRS found that Israel broadened the definition of a legitimate military target in its military operation in Lebanon at the time, by indiscriminately targeting civilian infrastructure and healthcare. Since 2 March 2026, Israel has applied a similar pattern of conduct in its latest military offensive on Lebanon by targeting civilian areas, healthcare facilities, financial institutions and critical infrastructure, sowing fear and deepening sectarian tensions among Lebanese communities.
Israel’s illegal use of artillery-fired white phosphorus munitions in residential areas has been documented by human rights reports; the toxic chemical has severe long-term impact on civilians and the environment. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, Israel has killed at least 886 people in the last two weeks, including 111 children and 38 healthcare workers, and injured over 2,000 people.
While Israel has recurrently displaced dozens of thousands of civilians in its previous military operations, this time it has escalated with blanket evacuation orders unprecedentedly covering the entirety of the South Governorate and the southern suburbs of Beirut. These orders displaced at least one million people in a span of two weeks, representing roughly one in six of Lebanon’s population.
Israel has also intensified its rhetoric against Lebanon, with its officials openly threatening to seize Lebanese territory as well as to attack civilian infrastructure, as well as to strike ambulances and medical facilities, which it claimed have been used by Hezbollah without supporting evidence. On 13 March, Israel dropped leafletsover Beirut threatening Lebanon with the ‘same fate as Gaza’ if its population does not dismantle Hezbollah, raising fears and terror among civilians.
Although a ceasefire has technically been in place since November 2024, both sides have violated its terms, with Hezbollah maintaining its presence south of the Litani river and Israel repeatedly carrying out strikes on Lebanon, including its capital. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) documented more than 7,500 Israeli airspace violations and nearly 2,500 ground violations within the first year of the ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile, Israel continues its illegal occupation of Syrian and Palestinian territories, and its gross international law violations in Gaza with little to no international scrutiny. At least 649 people have been killedin Gaza since the so-called ceasefire of October 2025 (as of 5 March 2026) bringing the total of Palestinian fatalities to 72,134 since 7 October 2023.
CIHRS calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities across the region and urges all parties involved to ensure full respect of international humanitarian law and the UN Charter. This includes ending acts of military aggression and refraining from indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, humanitarian operations and healthcare. CIHRS also calls for increased humanitarian assistance and funding for the affected countries, particularly Lebanon and Palestine, and for the international community to address the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crises.
CIHRS reiterates its calls to the United Nations to urgently lead a comprehensive peace and security initiative to prevent further escalation and address the structural drivers of instability in the region, prioritizing ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian territories and putting in place concrete measures to halt repeated acts of military aggression. States must also enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants issued in November 2024 against Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and previous Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
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