Exclusive: Inside Lebanon's 200-page dossier on Israeli war crimes

A report obtained by The New Arab documents Israel's systematic destruction of southern Lebanese towns, including Bint Jbeil, and the displacement of residents.

Rita El Jammal

Beirut

01 October, 2026

https://www.newarab.com/news/exclusive-inside-lebanons-200-page-israeli-war-crimes-dossier

A report obtained exclusively by The New Arab documents suspected Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity during the latest war on Lebanon, detailing attacks on civilians, journalists, medical personnel and infrastructure, as well as widespread destruction and forced displacement.

The more than 200-page report, compiled by Lebanon's National Committee for International Humanitarian Law, was handed to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, who heads the committee.

The findings come despite Lebanon agreeing to waive its right to pursue legal action against Israel over war crimes under a framework ceasefire agreement, with Article 13 of the agreement, signed in Washington on 26 June, requiring Lebanon to end "all hostile or harmful actions in international political or legal forums" against Israel.

According to information obtained exclusively by The New Arab, the report focuses on Israeli violations committed after 2 March 2026, placing them within the broader context of the conflict in Lebanon since 8 October 2023.

It examines numerous incidents classified by the committee as war crimes and crimes against humanity, supported by an independent evidence file containing screenshots, original links, statements from official bodies and human rights organisations, published photographs, maps, witness testimonies, press materials and other sources used to assess the incidents in accordance with international standards.

The report also outlines the methodology adopted by the National Committee for International Humanitarian Law to collect information and document and verify violations. It evaluates Israeli accounts of the incidents and provides legal assessments and analysis of the documented violations.

The violations examined include the destruction of infrastructure, bridges and crossings; attacks on cultural property, civilians, civil defence personnel, rescue teams, journalists and media workers; attacks on hospitals, health facilities and medical and humanitarian services; attacks on civilian property; and forced displacement.

The committee faced significant difficulties in compiling the report, particularly because the Lebanese authorities had not opened investigations into the crimes and therefore had no official investigative records. In many cases, the names of those killed were unavailable, with only casualty figures recorded.

The lack of cooperation from relevant ministries, which failed to provide the assistance required to complete the documentation, created further obstacles.

Despite these challenges, the committee intensified its efforts to document the violations and prepare a comprehensive report that could support future legal proceedings against Israel.

Killing of journalist Amal Khalil

Among the cases examined was Israel's killing of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil during attacks on the southern town of Al-Tayri on 22 April 2026.

Journalist Zeinab Faraj, who was accompanying Khalil, was also wounded in the attack.

The report concluded that the incident constituted a blatant violation of international humanitarian law on several grounds, including the deliberate and direct targeting of Khalil, who was left surrounded at the site for several hours while emergency teams were prevented from reaching her, despite her still being alive.

Several organisations, including Human Rights Watch, described the 22 April attack as a deliberate targeting of civilians that would constitute a war crime.

They also highlighted the Israeli army's obstruction of rescue efforts, including the use of a stun grenade dropped from a drone, which forced Lebanese Red Cross personnel to withdraw temporarily without rescuing Khalil or providing potentially life-saving medical assistance.

Deadly Israeli attacks on 8 April

Another major case examined in the report was Israel's large-scale bombardment of Lebanon on 8 April 2026, which the committee found had involved attacks in the absence of military targets.

Israeli forces launched around 100 attacks within a short period, striking Beirut, its southern suburbs, Mount Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon.

The attacks killed more than 303 people and wounded over 1,200 others, including dozens of women and children.

Lebanon subsequently submitted an urgent complaint to the UN Security Council over the 8 April bombardment and Israeli attacks on medical and emergency facilities since 2 March 2026 as a blatant violation of the principles of international law.

UN experts, in a statement published by the UN Human Rights Council, also condemned Israel's bombardment of Lebanon on 8 April, saying it  was unlawful aggression and a campaign of indiscriminate bombing.

 Systematic destruction and forced displacement

The report also documents the systematic destruction of Lebanese cities and villages, including the destruction of cultural heritage, which it classifies as crimes against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Among the examples cited is the extensive bulldozing and destruction of the southern city of Bint Jbeil. Satellite imagery, maps and field reports document the scale of the damage to the city's landmarks, infrastructure and residential areas.

The committee also found that Israel had violated fundamental principles of international humanitarian law through unlawful evacuation orders that triggered unprecedented waves of mass displacement, emptied entire villages of their residents and left them uninhabitable.

According to the report, the available evidence indicates that Israeli attacks were indiscriminate, particularly where their effects extended beyond the intended targets into wider civilian areas or where weapons with wide-ranging effects were deployed in environments in which their impact could not be contained.

The evidence also provides sufficient information for a preliminary assessment of the weapons used, with the documented damage consistent with the use of highly explosive munitions, most of them dropped from aircraft on civilian residential areas.

Geographical analysis identifies three main areas where evidence of the violations is concentrated.

The first is central Beirut, where footage of direct attacks, images recorded in their aftermath and victims' testimonies provide evidence of strikes in densely populated residential neighbourhoods.

The second is Beirut's southern suburbs, where repeated footage of attacks, widespread destruction and testimonies documenting continued bombardment and displacement indicate that civilian areas were subjected to sustained military pressure.

The third is southern Lebanon, where attacks on villages, damage to infrastructure and civilian testimonies reveal a similar pattern of harm inflicted on residents.

The committee concluded that these findings raise serious concerns about violations of the fundamental principles governing the conduct of hostilities, as established by the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.

The report also examines a series of Israeli attacks on major bridges and crossings over the Litani River and its tributaries, as well as roads leading to them, during March and April 2026.

According to the committee, the evidence indicates that the destruction constituted unlawful attacks on protected civilian infrastructure and crossings vital to the civilian population, violating the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, as well as obligations concerning the facilitation of humanitarian relief.

Other incidents examined include attacks on medical services in the town of Mifdoun in the Nabatieh district, civil defence personnel in Majdal Zoun in the Tyre district and a residential apartment in the hills of Ain Saadeh on 5 April 2026.

Legal avenues for prosecuting Israel

Separately, the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Beirut, headed by former minister Nasser Yassin, has been documenting Israeli violations and assessing the cost of the war on Lebanon, particularly the direct and indirect damage inflicted on the country's vital sectors.

During a discussion hosted by the centre on 27 August under the title "Israeli violations of international humanitarian law", Mitri addressed the legal options available for pursuing accountability for Israeli crimes, including the possibility of bringing cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"Lebanon is not a party to the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, preventing the Lebanese state from resorting to it to prosecute Israel under the current circumstances," he said.

Mitri nevertheless explained that the ICC could, under specific circumstances and through established legal mechanisms, exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed during a particular period, even if the state concerned had not fully joined the Rome Statute.

"The inability of the Lebanese state at present to turn to the International Criminal Court does not remove the right of Lebanese individuals to pursue Israel before several European courts, such as those in Spain, Belgium and France, where some European judicial systems allow, under specific conditions, the filing of cases related to international crimes or serious violations," he said.

He stressed that some individuals had already begun taking such steps.

Mitri also called on civil society associations, human rights organisations and other bodies that have documented Israeli violations to submit their research and reports to the government.

He said coordinating official and civil society efforts was essential to consolidating the evidence and preparing legal cases to pursue accountability for Israel's actions.