The Legal Agenda is presenting a series of reports of war crimes committed by Israel in the context of its aggression against Lebanon. These reports are an attempt to document these crimes and pave the way for an independent and transparent investigation into them. They are based on preliminary information available at the time of their publication, and we hope that they can contribute to the necessary national efforts to document war crimes.

Facts:

Douris, Baalbek District, 14 November 2024

• At 8:00 PM on November 14, the Israeli occupation army directly targeted the Civil Defense’s regional center in the town of Douris, Baalbek District.
• The attack destroyed the three-story center on top of the civil defense personnel inside, killing 14 of them – including the center’s chief (Bilal Raad), the chief of Baalbek Civil Defense Center 2 (Hassan Wahhoud) – and severely wounded one (Abduh Shibli).
• The attack also destroyed vehicles belonging to the center, including three fire engines and one excavator. Civil Defense services in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate are suffering from a severe shortage of equipment, especially large machinery used to lift and clear rubble.
• The regional center is responsible for 15 Lebanese Civil Defense centers in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. Personnel from Baalbek Civil Defense Center 2 had joined the regional center because it is situated in the Asaira area in Baalbek’s hills, which have been targeted by the Israeli army. After this attack, only three personnel from the regional center and four from Baalbek Center 2 remain alive.
• The Ministry of Health condemned this attack on a health sector facility belonging to the Lebanese state. Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bashir Khodr warned of the danger the attack poses to the future of rescue, recovery, and firefighting operations in the governorate.
• Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned this attack and the normalization of attacks on healthcare in conflicts.

Context

• This attack is part of Israel’s strategy of destroying the relief and emergency aid sector in Lebanon and obstructing its work. It has directly targeted rescue and relief teams and prevented them from reaching targeted sites in multiple areas of Lebanon. As of 15 November 2024, Israeli attacks have killed 208 healthcare and relief personnel in Lebanon and wounded 311, according to the Ministry of Health. Attacks on the Lebanese Civil Defense have killed 27 personnel, completely destroyed five centers, partially destroyed 15 to 20, and put 42 vehicles out of service.
• This Israeli attack on the Civil Defense’s regional center aims to obstruct rescue work in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, which is suffering repeated daily attacks. It follows the same approach as the attacks that the Israeli army has launched on the region south of the Litani River, including on the Bint Jbeil Municipality Union’s fire station in the town of Baraachit, Southern Lebanon.

The Laws of War

• “Civil defense” means the performance of humanitarian tasks intended to protect the civilian population against the dangers, and to help it recover from the immediate effects of hostilities and to provide the conditions necessary for its survival. These tasks include warning; evacuation; management of shelters; management of blackout measures; rescue; medical services, including first aid and religious assistance; firefighting; detection and marking of danger areas; decontamination and similar protective measures; provision of emergency accommodation and supplies; emergency assistance in the restoration and maintenance of order in distressed areas; emergency repair of indispensable public utilities; emergency disposal of the dead; and assistance in the preservation of objects essential for survival (Article 61 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions).
• Civilian civil defense organizations and their personnel must be respected and protected, and they must be allowed to perform their civil defense tasks except in case of imperative military necessity (Article 24 of Geneva Convention I, Article 62 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, and Rule 31 of the International Committee of the Red Cross database of customary humanitarian law).
• Buildings and matériel used for civil defense purposes are covered by the protection granted to civilian objects and, therefore, must not be targeted as long as they are not making an effective contribution to military action (Article 52 and Article 62 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and Rule 32 of the International Committee of the Red Cross database of customary humanitarian law).
• Obstructing the work of humanitarian relief teams is prohibited, their passage must be allowed and facilitated, and the necessary freedom of movement to perform their functions must be respected (Article 63 and Article 70 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and Rule 56 of the International Committee of the Red Cross database of customary humanitarian law).

Previous Reports of Israeli War Crimes in Lebanon

• War Crime Alert No. 1: The Targeting of an Islamic Health Organization Center and Its Staff, Bachoura, Beirut, 2 October 2024
• War Crime Alert No. 2: The Targeting of Salah Ghandour Hospital, Bint Jbeil, Nabatieh, 4 October 2024
• War Crime Alert No. 3: Rescue Operations Blocked in Mreijeh, Dahieh, Beirut, 4 October 2024 Onwards
• War Crime Alert No. 4: The Targeting of the Bint Jbeil Fire Station and Brigade, Baraachit, 6 October 2024
• War Crime Alert No. 5: The Targeting of UN Peacekeepers, Southern Lebanon, 4-20 October 2024
• War Crime Alert No. 6: Attacks on al-Qard al-Hasan Association, Lebanon, 20 October 2024
• War Crime Alert No. 7: Massacre in the Vicinity of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Beirut, 21 October 2024
• War Crimes Alert No. 8: Threatening Sahel Hospital, Haret Hreik, Dahieh, Beirut, 21 October 2024
• War Crimes Alert No. 9: Attack on Journalists in Hasbaya, 25 October 2024
• War Crimes Alert No. 10: Destruction of the Historic Village of Mhaibib, Southern Lebanon, 16 October 2024
• War Crimes Alert No. 11: Attacks on IDPs Accommodations Intended to Spread Terror, September–October 2024
• War Crimes Alert No. 12: Destruction of Cemeteries in Southern Lebanon, October 2024
• War Crimes Alert No. 13: Violating the Rights of POWs, Southern Lebanon, October 2024

This article is an edited translation from Arabic.