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:

Southern Lebanon, October 2024

• On October 13, the Israeli occupation army published a video and pictures that it said were taken while its soldiers were capturing a Hezbollah member. The video shows the soldiers asking the prisoner to remove his clothes and put his hands on his head and then capturing him. The picture then shows him lying near an Israeli soldier with his hands bound behind his back. In all these shots, his face is blurred while his body is semi-naked.
• Two days later, the occupation army published a video of the same prisoner’s interrogation. The video shows his face clearly and provides full information about his identity.
• On October 15, the Israeli army published pictures of three people cuffed and surrounded by Israeli soldiers. It stated that they were Hezbollah soldiers captured in Southern Lebanon. Their faces were blurred.
• On October 29, the Israeli army published videos and pictures that it said were taken while its soldiers were capturing three Hezbollah members. The video shows them semi-naked, with their faces clear, as they are told to kneel and crawl toward the Israeli soldiers.

Context

These publications are part of Israel’s policy of distorting the rules of international humanitarian law in the context of its aggression against Lebanon and Gaza and violating the rules of war and rights of prisoners of war (POWs) in order to indignify Lebanese people and promote propaganda based on terrorizing and intimidating them.

The Laws of War

• Prisoners of War (PoWs) are members of the armed forces or militias, including organized resistance movements, belonging to a party to the conflict who have fallen into the power of the enemy (Article 4 of Geneva Convention III). International law imposes strict rules to protect them during their captivity.
• All persons deprived of their liberty must be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person (Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). The protection of this covenant does not cease in times of war (Paragraph 25 of the International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons).
• POWs must at all times be treated humanely, and they must not be exposed to public curiosity (Article 13 of Geneva Convention III). Publishing videos of prisoners for propaganda purposes contravenes this rule.
• Committing outrages upon POWs’ personal dignity and treating them in a humiliating and degrading manner is prohibited, and they are entitled to respect for their person, honor, and convictions and to humane treatment (Article 75 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, Article 4 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, and Rule 87 and Rule 90 of the International Committee of the Red Cross database of customary international humanitarian law).
• Outrages upon personal dignity include humiliations, degradations, and other violations that are of such a degree as to be generally recognized as an outrage upon personal dignity (Article 8 (2) (b) (xxi) of the Elements of Crimes adopted by the International Criminal Court). Inhuman treatment is treatment that constitutes a serious attack on human dignity (Paragraph 543 of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia decision issued on 16 November 1998).

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

This article is an edited translation from Arabic.