By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. Human Rights Chief called on Wednesday for renewed efforts to bring a permanent end to hostilities in Lebanon, as Israeli air strikes continue despite an agreed ceasefire.
High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights Volker Turk said 103 civilians had been killed in the last 10 months.
“We are still seeing devastating impacts of jet and drone strikes in residential areas, as well as near U.N. peacekeepers in the south,” Turk said.
Israel has frequently targeted what it says are Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon despite a U.S.-brokered truce between Lebanon and Israel which took effect in November following more than a year of conflict triggered by war in Gaza.
One of the deadliest strikes killed five people, including three children, when an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle and a motorcycle in the border area of Bint Jbeil on September 21.
The Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah member in the strike but that “several uninvolved civilians were killed”.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible. The incident is under review,” it said in a statement the following day.
Turk has called for an independent investigation into that incident and others.
The OHCHR said it had no reports of killings from projectiles fired from Lebanon toward Israel since the ceasefire.
More than 80,000 people remain displaced in Lebanon and 30,000 people are still displaced in northern Israel, according to the OHCHR.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Alison Williams)
Comments