Senior UN officials demanded that Israel and Hezbollah respect international law following a visit to Lebanon on Monday, including ensuring the protection of civilians, peacekeepers, civilian infrastructure and humanitarian access, as escalating violence in Lebanon harms and displaces increasing numbers of civilians.

Following a three-day visit to Lebanon, in which they met with government officials and community members, and visited various humanitarian facilities, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban and WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau expressed that civilians are afraid for their safety, with high numbers of children suffering as a result of attacks in proximity to civilians. They highlighted that 190,000 individuals are currently displaced and living in humanitarian shelters, with the total number of people that have been impacted by the conflict in Lebanon at 1.2 million.

International humanitarian law obliges combatants to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, “including schools hospitals [and] water systems”. The protection of the law extends to humanitarian aid workers, as well as the supply routes and resources that are needed to provide humanitarian aid. Specific categories of civilians are protected by additional international legal instruments. For example, Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that states take positive measures to ensure that children are protected from violence and abuse. The law also protects UN peacekeepers from direct attack under Security Council Resolution 1701.

Israel has targeted both medical facilities and residential areas in Lebanon with airstrikes, contributing to the large number of civilians that have been displaced. Moreover, the practice of targeting residential areas does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, indiscriminately exposing children to considerable danger. This is potentially a breach of a state’s legal obligation to both protect children and distinguish between military and civilian targets. As a result of the increasing number of displaced civilians in Lebanon, a continually growing portion of the population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. This makes the protection of humanitarian routes and facilities ever more important.

Israel claims that it is compliant with international humanitarian law, stating that striking residential areas to kill Hezbollah officials is a legitimate military aim.

Israel recently commenced an invasion of Lebanon after weeks of airstrikes, in an effort to defeat Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been attacking Israel for the past year, in reaction to Israel’s military action in Gaza.