Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Report on Deaths and Displacements During the Conflict in Lebanon

A UN Human Rights report released on 24 April 2026 details the devastating human toll of the first three weeks of escalated hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military in Lebanon, documenting widespread violations affecting fundamental rights, including life, health, education, food, housing, work, freedom of movement, and religious freedom.

The report's analysis of large-scale attacks, shelling, and ground incursions by Israeli forces in Lebanon found evidence of direct attacks on civilians. Particularly devastating were several documented incidents in which Israeli strikes hit residential buildings, killing entire families in a single blow, which may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law. The report underlines the near-total failure to provide adequate warnings to civilians ahead of Israeli attacks. In many instances, no warnings were given at all; in others, warnings were issued but were not reasonably effective in allowing civilians to evacuate safely. Israel's evacuation warnings and displacement orders have resulted in the displacement of over one million people. Given the breadth, ambiguity, and circumstances surrounding these orders, the report suggests they may amount to forced displacement, which is explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law. On the other side of the conflict, Hezbollah fired reportedly unguided rockets into residential areas in Israel, causing damage to buildings and civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate nature of such weapons, which cannot be directed at specific military targets, means these strikes may also amount to serious violations of international humanitarian law, regardless of their stated intent.

Among the most serious and recurring violations documented are frequent deadly attacks on healthcare workers and on journalists, both of whom enjoy protected status under international humanitarian law. The report is unequivocal on this point: deliberately targeting medical personnel or journalists would constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law.

Beyond the direct human casualties, the conflict has caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, like health facilities, schools, and religious sites. Israeli attacks have also burned or contaminated farmland and destroyed livelihoods across the country, with profound consequences for the rights to food, work, and a healthy environment. 

In response to these findings, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has issued a series of urgent calls to action. He demands prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigations into all incidents involving alleged violations of international humanitarian law, insisting that findings must be publicly disclosed and that those responsible must be held to account. He also urges all States to immediately cease the sale, transfer, and diversion to any party of arms, munitions, and other military equipment where there is a clear risk that such items could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law. Finally, and perhaps most urgently, he calls on all parties to ensure that the current ceasefire does not remain a temporary pause in violence, but becomes the foundation for a permanent cessation of hostilities and a basis for a just and lasting peace in the region.