On September 6, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released “Why They Died”, a report on the Lebanese casualties during the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.  This report was released days after “Civilians Under Assault”, a report on Hezbollah’s deliberate targeting of civilians during the same war.  In both reports, HRW chided Hezbollah and Israel for not abiding the laws of war, which ultimately resulted in the high number of civilian casualties during the 34-day war.

“Why They Died” is the result of five months of research and interviews conducted by HRW.  In preparation for this report, HRW researched 510 civilian deaths, 302 of which were women and children, and 51 combatant deaths.  These figures represent nearly half of the casualties in Lebanon during the war.  HRW investigated 94 air, artillery and ground attacks carried out by the Israel Defense Force (IDF).  They visited over 50 Lebanese villages and conducted over 300 interviews with victims and eyewitness.  HRW also spoke with 39 military experts, journalists and Israeli, Lebanese and Hezbollah officials.

In the summary of the report, HRW refutes Israel’s claim that many of the civilian deaths resulted from Hezbollah’s policy of using civilian “shields” and not from Israel’s military policies.  It states that despite the media reporting otherwise, Israel assumed that their warnings to evacuate villages in southern Lebanon were followed and anyone left was a combatant.  From this assumption, the IDF labeled any visible person as a legitimate target.  However, there are several indications that Israel knew that this assumption was erroneous.  In some instances, it seemed as though Israel knew exactly how many civilians remained.  Also, the report summary lists several Israeli attacks on vehicles evacuating civilians where there was no justification for the attack.

In addition, the report also states that the IDF unlawfully targeted all aspects of Hezbollah organization.  During the war, Israel said that they considered the entire organization as a legitimate military target.  Israel’s targets incorporated private homes and offices of Hezbollah members who were neither combatants nor participating in any military operations.  Other targets included Hezbollah affiliated schools, banks, welfare agencies, research centers, and political offices.

Other concerns detailed in the report were the use of out-dated, unreliable information, the use of cluster munitions, and two cases where IDF soldiers killed unarmed civilians who clearly posed no threat.  Both cases involved IDF soldiers killing civilians who returned to their homes, which Israeli soldiers were occupying.  HRW also noted that no formal investigation into either incident took place.

In “Civilians Under Assault”, HRW reports that during the war, Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets indiscriminately into densely populated areas, violating international rules of war.  The report consists of more than 20 case studies into rocket attacks in Jewish, Arab and mixed villages in northern Israel, which resulted in 39 civilian deaths and over 100 injuries.  Not only did the research show that many of the rocket attacks were conducted indiscriminately, but in some cases Hezbollah deliberately targeted densely populated areas with no military purpose.  Even in cases where there was a legitimate military target, the type of rockets used was so inaccurate that it was more likely to hit civilians than the target itself.

The reports end by recommending that both Israel and Hezbollah follow international rules of war and to revise military policy to limit attacks on legitimate military targets.  In addition, HRW noted that neither Israel nor Lebanon has investigated cases of serious violations of international humanitarian law.  They also recommended that UN establish an International Commission of Inquiry to investigate reports of violations of international law, including possible war crimes.

For the reports please see:
Human Rights Watch:  “Why They Died:  Civilian Casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 War” September 2007.

Human Rights Watch:  “Civilians Under Assault:  Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel  in the 2006 War” August 2007.

For more information please see:
The Daily Star:  “Rights group slams Israel’s ‘reckless’ conduct in war” 7 September 2007.

The Toronto Star:  “Lebanon war rebuke ‘nonsense,’ Israelis say” 7 September 2007.

Associated Press:  “Rights group accuses Israel on Lebanon” 6 September 2007.

BBC:  “Israel accused over Lebanon war” 6 September 2007.

Human Rights Watch:  “Israel/Lebanon:  Israeli indiscriminate attacks killed most civilians” 6 September 2007.

Human Rights Watch:  “Israel/Lebanon:  Hezbollah rockets targeted civilians in 2006 war” 29 August 2007.