GENEVA - UN experts* today condemned Israel's illegal aggression and indiscriminate bombing campaign against Lebanon on 8 April, only hours after a ceasefire agreement was brokered by Pakistan between the United States and Iran.
"We are witnessing the continuing utmost contempt for the international legal order, for diplomacy, and above all for the lives of civilians and the environment in Lebanon," the independent experts said. "Israel has chosen the very moment a ceasefire was announced - one that its Pakistani mediator stated included Lebanon - to unleash the largest coordinated wave of strikes on the country since 1980."
"This is not self-defence. It is a blatant violation of the UN Charter, a deliberate destruction of prospects for peace, and an affront to multilateralism and the UN-based international order," they said.
The experts were concerned that despite the recent announcement of a ceasefire between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, prospects for wider regional de‑escalation remain uncertain. The lack of tangible progress on talks last weekend underscored the fragility of existing ceasefire efforts and urgency of stepping up diplomatic engagement.
"The United States' imposition of a naval blockade is an act of war that has further destabilised the situation," the experts warned.
Since the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel on 27 November 2024, Israel has repeatedly violated Lebanon's sovereignty. In a 10-minute onslaught on 8 April 2026, Israeli forces struck more than 150 locations simultaneously across Lebanon, killing at least 303 persons, and wounding 1,150 others. Hundreds remain under the rubble. Many strikes hit densely populated residential neighbourhoods and commercial areas in central Beirut in violation of the principles of distinction and proportionality and the obligation to take all feasible precautions under customary international humanitarian law (IHL). The strikes caused severe environmental damage by releasing toxic air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, contaminating water systems, and destroying ecosystems through fires, debris, and chemical residues.
According to the Government of Lebanon, since 2 March, the Israeli army has killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon, including health workers and journalists, and injured 6,588 others. Over 1 million people have been displaced amounting to approximately one in five of Lebanon's population, of which an estimated 140,682 are in overcrowded shelters. Already in March 2026, the experts raised alarm over a rapidly escalating displacement crisis in Lebanon, after intense Israeli airstrikes and evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut. The pace of displacement in this phase of the conflict has been described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as faster than during the 2024 escalation. Thousands of civilians - among them women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities - have been compelled to abandon their homes.
"The issuance of blanket evacuation orders, combined with the destruction of urban and village housing that displaced persons would have returned to, is consistent with the pattern of domicide that was initiated during the genocide in Gaza," the experts warned. "The deliberate destruction of homes is a weapon of war and a form of collective punishment, particularly in Shiite areas in the rural South of the country. It also points to ethnic cleansing."
"Forced displacement of a civilian population constitutes crimes against humanity and is a war crime under international law," they said.
The experts also condemned Hezbollah's recent cross-border attacks against Israeli civilians and urged it to abide by the 2024 ceasefire deal, pursuant to Security Council resolution 1701.
The experts urgently called for:
- Israel to immediately cease all military operations in Lebanon, comply with the ceasefire framework and Security Council Resolution 1701, withdraw its forces, enable the safe return of displaced persons, and engage in direct negotiations with Lebanon.
- The United States to use its influence to ensure Israel halts strikes on Lebanese civilians and infrastructure without delay.
- All Member States to suspend arms transfers to Israel while there is credible evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
- The international community to support Lebanon's humanitarian response, including funding the USD 308 million Flash Appeal.
