[JURIST] A UN Human Rights Council [official website] commission of inquiry has recommended [report, PDF] that Israel be made to compensate Lebanon for damages the Israeli military inflicted during the 33-day conflict in the Middle East [JURIST news archive]. Specifically, the panel recommended that the Council create "a commission competent to examine individual claims" of citizens and "examine issues of reparations." The Commission of Inquiry made its recommendation to the Council based on its findings that Israel's actions during the conflict were "disproportionate and indiscriminatory" and that they also used prohibited munitions [JURIST report], especially during the last few days of the conflict.

Both Israel and the United States objected strongly to the panel's report [statements summary], with Israel referring to it as "rife with imbalances and misrepresentation." Both countries claimed the report diminished the severity of the attacks on Israel staged by Hezbollah from villages in southern Lebanon. Reuters has more.