Sonya AT
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As a result, Israel has temporarily asked worshippers from all faiths not to worship at the holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City to protect them.
The Lemkin Institute is horrified by the recent spike in the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon due to ongoing Israeli strikes, as well as the expansion of Israel’s target area within Lebanon. In our last RFA on Lebanon, the death toll stood at 394, including 83 children. In the span of only two weeks, the figures have surged to over 1,094 people killed, including 121 children and 81 women. According to UNICEF, the equivalent of an entire classroom of children is killed or injured every day in Lebanon. These numbers can be expected to increase as Israel continues its attacks on densely populated areas. The repeated “evacuation orders” issued with limited time notice, and lacking clearly defined safe corridors, effectively function as mass displacement orders. One million people are now displaced from their homes. As in Gaza, medical workers in Lebanon are on the frontlines of Israeli attacks. Since the war began on 2 March, Israel has struck at least 128 medical facilities and ambulances across Lebanon, killing 42 healthcare workers and wounding 107. The Israeli governments is now openly threatening to export its mass atrocity crimes perpetrated in Gaza to Lebanon. Defense Minister Israel Katz recently directed the military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and demolish homes near the border “in accordance with the model of Beit Hanoun and Rafah,” in reference to Israel’s prior razing of towns in Gaza. These attacks he said, are “a message to the Lebanese state.” The message that emerges most clearly is that Israel is actively preparing the ground for the invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon. The Lemkin Institute reiterates its call for effective international action to stop Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Israel is heading down the same road of total destruction that it paved in Gaza and is paving in the Occupied Territories. It is time for world powers to show courage and act on principle. Even if IHL no longer exists, as many powerholders say, the morality and ethics reflected in IHL still do. Without them, the world is lost. Full Statement: bit.ly/RFALebanonUpda… Photo credits: Philippe Pernot
