11/28/2025
The UN human rights office has urged a “prompt and impartial” investigation into Israeli strikes in Lebanon, warning of possible violations of international humanitarian law nearly a year after a ceasefire was signed.
Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, cited an attack last week on the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp that killed 11 children.
He said in a statement on Tuesday that all of those killed in the Ein el-Hilweh strike were civilians, raising “serious concerns that the Israeli military’s attack may have violated international humanitarian law principles on the conduct of hostilities”.
Israel has killed more than 300 people in Lebanon since the November 27, 2024, ceasefire, including about 127 civilians, according to the UN.
Israeli forces remain deployed in five areas of southern Lebanon and continue near-daily air raids, which Israel claims target fighters from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and its infrastructure.
Al-Kheetan described last week’s strike on Ein el-Hilweh, near Sidon, as one of the deadliest since the ceasefire.
“At least 13 civilians, including 11 children, were killed and at least six civilians injured last week in an Israeli strike on the Ein El-Hilweh camp,” he said. “There must be prompt and impartial investigations … those responsible must be brought to justice.”
He said Israeli attacks have also hit homes, roads, factories and construction sites, hampering reconstruction in the south and preventing families from returning. He cited a November 16 strike on a cement and asphalt factory in Ansar, which destroyed dozens of concrete mixers, cranes and fuel tanks.
More than 64,000 people, mostly from southern Lebanon, remain displaced, according to the UN.
Al-Kheetan said Israel had begun constructing a wall that crosses into Lebanese territory, rendering 4,000 square metres (43,055sq feet) inaccessible and undermining displaced people’s right of return.
At least 13 civilians, including 11 children, were killed in the Israeli strike on Ein El-Hilweh camp.
