Amnesty accuses Hezbollah of violating international law
Rights organisation Amnesty International has accused Hezbollah of violating international humanitarian law in Israel because of indiscriminate rocket attacks in its war with Israel.
“Amnesty International documented three Hezbollah rocket attacks on civilian areas of Israel in October 2024 that killed eight civilians and injured at least 16 more that must be investigated as war crimes,” the organisation said on Friday.
Hezbollah did not distinguish between combatants and civilians, as required by international humanitarian law, Amnesty continued. In Israel, civilian homes have also been damaged and destroyed due to the “reckless use” of unguided missiles.
Amnesty recently accused Israel of four “unlawful air strikes” on residential buildings in Lebanon, resulting in many deaths, and called for investigations into whether these were war crimes as well.
Amnesty also criticised Israel’s evacuation orders in Lebanon as inadequate and, in some cases, misleading.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,800 people and wounded more than 15,800 in Lebanon since October 7, 2023. Hezbollah has killed at least 76 Israeli soldiers and 45 civilians in the same period.
Amnesty has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Germany calls HRW report on Israeli acts of genocide in Gaza ‘shocking’
Germany says Israel should address allegations made in a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that it is committing “acts of genocide” in Gaza by deliberately depriving Palestinian civilians there of access to clean water.
“The report joins a series of reports from international human rights organisations. These reports are, of course, shocking,” Federal Foreign Office spokesperson Christian Wagner said at a news briefing in Berlin.
“And I think it is really urgent that the Israeli government, so to speak, deals with these allegations and addresses them.”
‘Utter deprivation and unimaginable suffering’ for Gaza’s children: UNICEF
UNICEF says children in Gaza are “cold, sick and traumatised”, and 96 percent of women and children cannot meet their basic nutritional needs.
“Gaza must be one of the most heartbreaking places on earth for humanitarians. Every small effort to save a child’s life is undone by fierce devastation,” Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF communication specialist, said in a statement.
“For over 14 months, children have been at the sharp edge of this nightmare, with more than 14,500 children reportedly killed, thousands more injured.”
Bollen added that amid the festive season, when families celebrate “togetherness”, the reality for children in Gaza is “fear, utter deprivation and unimaginable suffering”.
“Winter has now descended on Gaza. Children are cold, wet, and barefoot. Many still wear summer clothes. With cooking gas gone, many are searching through rubble for scraps of plastic to burn,” Bollen said, adding that in November, an average of 65 aid truckloads entered Gaza, compared with 500 truckloads daily before the war.
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