Greenpeace International strongly condemns the ongoing and escalating invasion of Lebanon by Israeli forces, and calls for an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities by all parties to prevent further loss of life and avert an irreversible environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.
Since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon came into effect in November 2024, reports indicate that Israel has violated its terms over 15,000 times.[1] This was conducted through both air and land attacks, undermining the diplomatic framework intended to protect civilians.
On top of the death toll caused by the US-Israel attack on Iran and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the humanitarian toll of this recent escalation in Lebanon is horrific. Official reports cite around one million people displaced, with more than 900 killed, including over 100 children, and more than 2,200 injured to date.[2][3] The large-scale forced displacement of over one million people, combined with illegal mass evacuation orders that fail to ensure adequate protection for civilians, violates international humanitarian law.[4]
Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has expressed deep concern about the threats from Israeli officials of Gaza-level destruction in Lebanon.[5] Similar patterns are already emerging, including strikes on medical facilities and personnel, the targeting of academic and civilian infrastructure, threats to UNESCO world heritage sites and widespread environmental destruction.[6] The documented use of white phosphorus over civilian areas in southern Lebanon violates international bans on the indiscriminate use of incendiary weapons in populated zones.[7]
Greenpeace MENA warns that this massive scale of forced displacement and explicit threat of widespread destruction goes beyond military strategy and may amount to war crimes, endangering the fundamental fabric of Lebanese society.[8]
As scorched earth tactics and prohibited weapons devastate residential heartlands, the international community must break its silence to demand the protection of all civilian lives, an immediate ceasefire, and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entirety of Lebanese territory.
