Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Israel’s large-scale military escalation in Lebanon, coupled with the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the systematic destruction of villages, towns, and civilian objects, is deeply alarming. These developments raise serious concerns about efforts to impose new geographic and security realities by force, in violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. They require urgent international action to halt the attacks and ensure accountability for those responsible.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is alarmed by the dangerous developments in Lebanon as the Israeli army expands its ground operations north of the Litani River and intensifies its aerial and artillery bombardment of Tyre, Nabatieh, Sidon, and dozens of villages and towns across southern Lebanon. These attacks have caused additional civilian casualties in recent days and forced new waves of displacement northward under severe humanitarian conditions.

The Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 2 March 2026 have killed approximately 3,380 people and injured more than 10,150 others, according to official figures. More than one million people have been displaced, with a new wave of displacement observed on Monday morning from Beirut’s southern suburbs after Israel announced plans to resume airstrikes in the region.

The expansion of ground operations coincided with direct orders issued on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, citing alleged ceasefire violations.

The targeting of a densely populated civilian area that has already suffered extensive destruction reflects a recurring pattern of excessive and indiscriminate use of force. It constitutes a further violation of the principles of distinction and proportionality, which prohibit attacks on civilians and civilian objects, as well as attacks that are expected to cause excessive civilian harm relative to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage.

حين تفتح صنبور المياه اليوم، تذكر أن المياه الجارية لم تعد جزءًا من الحياة اليومية لمعظم الناس في غزة.

بعد أكثر من عامين ونصف من التدمير المتواصل للبنية التحتية للمياه والصرف الصحي في #غزة، تُجبر العائلات اليوم على قطع مسافات طويلة وهي تحمل حاويات ثقيلة من المياه، فقط لتلبية احتياجاتها اليومية الأساسية.

When you open your water tap today, remember that for most people in , clean running water is no longer a part of daily life.

After more than two and a half years of relentless destruction of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure, families are forced to walk long distances carrying heavy containers of water, simply to meet their most basic daily needs.

| Israeli military escalation entrenches mass dispossession, threatens territorial integrity

Lebanon: Israeli military escalation entrenches mass dispossession, threatens territorial integrity Israel's targeting of a densely populated civilian area that has already suffered extensive destruction reflects a pattern of excessive and indiscriminate use of force

"This recent escalation of defamatory attacks on Euro-Med and its leadership has been prompted by the publication of an opinion column written by Nicholas Kristof, a prize-winning regular contributor to the New York Times on May 11, 2026. This carefully reasoned and sourced article explicitly relied on Euro-Med Reports to ground his confirmation of severe forms of sexual violence engaged in by Israeli prison official and IDF soldiers in dealing with Palestinian civilians, and particularly detainees, including women and children. It was not unusual for influential media, NGOs, and activists to rely on Euro- Met reports given its reputation for trustworthy information. In this instance, Kristof’s eminence as a journalist, and even more because the NYT enjoyed had a long record of being a pro-Israeli news source that self-censored itself with respect to the most incriminating abuses by Israel of its legal and moral responsibilities in relation to the Palestinian people. Kristof’s reference to Euro-Med’s documentation of sexual violence against Palestinians should have enhanced the credibility and demonstrated the effectiveness of Euro-Med instead of serving as a launching pad for a smear campaign that is characteristic Israeli behavior whenever so accused, a practice of shifting the conversation to the credibility of the message as a means of ignoring the message, especially when its veracity is beyond a reasonable doubt."

- Richard Falk, Chairman of Euro-Med Monitor’s Board of Trustees