Israel accused of giving false evacuation warnings in Lebanon before bombing

The organization Amnesty International (AI) accused the Israeli Army on Thursday that the evacuation warnings it has sent to Lebanese residents before launching attacks on populated areas are “inadequate” and “in some cases, also misleading.”

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Amnesty specifies in a statement that some warnings were made at night and through social networks, when residents of the attacked area were sleeping.

‘Israel can never attack civilians’: Amnesty International

The entity reminds the Israeli Army that civilians can “never” be attacked, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, and that it is necessary to take all possible measures to minimize damage to them.

Furthermore, he emphasizes that issuing warnings to civilians “does not exempt Israel from its obligations” towards the communities.

In this sense, it points out that “Parties to a conflict have a clear obligation to take all possible precautions to avoid, or at least minimize, harm to civilians when carrying out attacks; this includes giving effective advance warning of attacks to civilians in affected areas, unless circumstances do not allow it.

“Israel’s warnings were inadequate”

However, according to Amnesty International, the warnings issued by Israel to residents of the southern suburb of Beirut, known as Dahye, and where the Shiite group Hezbollah has a large presence, “were inadequate.”

“Our analysis shows that the warnings issued by the Israeli military not only included misleading maps, but were also issued at short notice – in one case, less than 30 minutes before the attacks began – in the middle of the night. , through social networks, when many people were sleeping, disconnected or did not follow the news from the media”assured the general secretary of AI, Agnès Callamard.

Amnesty also denounces that the evacuation orders of entire towns and cities in southern Lebanon were made through “overly general and inadequate” warnings and stressed that this way of acting “raises doubts about whether they are intended to create the conditions for mass displacement.” .

ANWAR AMRO/AFP

According to the NGO, the Army issued evacuation warnings to residents of around 118 cities and towns in southern Lebanon between October 1 and 7, “after the start of their land invasion” from southern Lebanon.

How many people have died in Lebanon due to Israeli bombings?

Israel and the Shiite group Hezbollah have been facing each other on the divide for a year in a confrontation that in the last two weeks has risen to another level with an intense Israeli bombing campaign against Lebanon, including Beirut, which has caused more than 2,100 deaths and 1.2 million displaced people.

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