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: Haret Hreik, Dahieh, Beirut, 21 October 2024

• On the evening of 21 October 2024, the Israeli army launched a campaign of threats and incitement against Sahel General Hospital in Dahieh, Beirut’s southern suburb. The campaign alleges that under the building, there are tunnels that Hezbollah is using to store gold and hundreds of millions of dollars.
• In a video statement, the Israel army’s spokesperson presented graphics and maps of the building. He said that the Israeli airforce is monitoring the site and that they will not allow Hezbollah to use these funds. He also said that they would not target the hospital itself and would continue to work to strike Hezbollah’s capacities.
• These statements caused panic among the hospital’s patients and medical staff. Although the director of the hospital denied the Israeli claims, it was nevertheless evacuated. Before the threat, the hospital was still partially operational even though its surroundings had been targeted repeatedly.
• The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health issued a statement denouncing the threat against the hospital, placing it in the context of the daily attacks on the Lebanese health sector and saying that it reflects Israel’s continued commission of war crimes. The ‎Syndicate of Hospitals in Lebanon‎ also condemned the threat and said that it is based on unrealistic pretexts.
• The hospital’s administration denied the Israeli claims and announced that it was opening its doors for the media and the Lebanese Army to inspect it. On October 22 and 23, Lebanese and foreign media toured the hospital and its surroundings. These media reported that they were free to roam inside the building without obstruction and that no tunnels were apparent underneath it.
• Nevertheless, the Israeli army continued making threats via its spokesperson. In a statement on October 23, he again insisted that the alleged tunnel exists under the hospital without presenting any evidence or demonstrating any military necessity to threaten the hospital.

Context

• This threat is part of the Israeli occupation’s strategy of destroying the health sector in Gaza and Lebanon and targeting health and relief services and institutions and their workers. To date, Israeli attacks have taken eight hospitals completely out of service, and two others are now only treating emergency cases. On the same night, the Israeli army attacked a densely populated residential neighborhood in the vicinity of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital, significantly damaging the hospital. The following night, the Israeli army launched strikes in the vicinity of Bahman Hospital in Dahieh, damaging it too.
• This threat is similar to the threat that Israel previously directed at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. In that case, Israel presented graphics showing tunnels underneath the hospital and claimed that Hamas uses them as infrastructure. Days later, it committed a massacre by bombing the hospital’s entrance. Its forces subsequently stormed the hospital and committed further crimes.
• The threat also comes in the context of Israel’s campaign to destroy what it alleges are Hezbollah’s sources of funding. One day earlier, Israel targeted civilian facilities affiliated with the al-Qard al-Hasan Association even though it cannot be considered a legitimate target.
• The threat coincides with an increase in pressure on the Lebanese authorities to submit to Israel’s conditions for stopping the war. It is also part of Israel’s policy of pressuring Lebanese society, especially the Shia community, to sever its ties with Hezbollah. Because the threat also coincided with the failure of the negotiations to reach a ceasefire, some people also interpreted it as an attempt to pressure Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, especially as the hospital’s owner is a member of his parliamentary bloc.

The Laws of War

• Targeting hospitals and medical staff treating the sick and wounded is prohibited. Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm, and maternity cases must at all times be respected and protected by the parties to the conflict (Article 18 of Geneva Convention IV Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949, and Article 12 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, 1977). Threatening hospitals and forcing their staff to evacuate deprives the wounded and sick of the protection guaranteed by the laws of war.
• There may be no interference in the work of medical units or preventing the possibility of continuing to give treatment to the wounded and sick who are in their care. The necessary precautions must be taken to ensure that their services continue without any obstacles, avoid inflicting damage on them, avoid obstructing their work, and avoid unnecessarily preventing them from performing their medical duties.
• Any act, including threats of violence, that causes panic among civilians is prohibited. Likewise, acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population without offering a substantial military advantage are prohibited (Article 48 and Article 51 of Additional Protocol I).
• In any case, the presence of money or gold in a tunnel under a hospital does not constitute a case of military necessity or render the hospital a legitimate target of hostilities.

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

This article is an edited translation from Arabic.