Israeli attacks on Lebanon and threats of more attacks have forced more than a million people to flee their homes. This represents almost a fifth of the total population of the country, which already has the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.
For the past two years, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been mapping Israel’s refugee strategy in the occupied Palestinian territories. This often caused entire refugee camps and people in nearby areas to flee, under the immediate threat of airstrikes or ongoing military operations.
We are now seeing the same tactics unfold in Lebanon. Israel’s evacuation order covers large areas with a large Shia population living in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut (about 15% of Lebanon’s territory). People have sought refuge with friends and relatives, found government-run shelters or set up camps along Beirut’s coastline, the site of recent Israeli attacks.
The laws of war provide that civilians cannot be forced to leave their homes unless there are urgent military reasons or the safety of the population is at risk. Evacuation should be temporary and people should be allowed to return once hostilities end. Simply put, war is not a license to expel people from their lands.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces forcibly relocated nearly 2 million residents through an evacuation system. The evacuation system forced people into smaller and smaller areas where they could be directly affected.
The Israeli military’s Operation Iron Wall in the occupied West Bank in early 2025 led to the ethnic cleansing of 32,000 Palestinians from three refugee camps, the largest displacement in the region since 1967. The Israeli military still bars them from re-entering their homes or returning to homes that Israeli authorities have demolished.
In southern Syria, where Israel occupies some territory, HRW found that Israeli forces committed a variety of abuses against residents, including forced displacement, confiscation and demolition of homes, and obstruction of people’s return.
In both Gaza and the West Bank, Israel says it is targeting Palestinian militants and their infrastructure. However, this does not justify mass displacement of civilians. Israel has an obligation to consider alternatives. Mass displacement is a last resort, and authorities have failed to show that they have sought other ways to achieve their military objectives in Gaza and the West Bank and ensure that any displacement is temporary.
In fact, in both places, HRW found that the Israeli government, in accordance with national policy, knowingly and deliberately carried out mass and prolonged forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. In both cases, senior Israeli officials declared their goal to expel and isolate Palestinians from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
So now in Lebanon, Israeli authorities may be starting the same process of forced migration. Several UN experts have also raised the same warning.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on the 16th, “Shiite residents of southern Lebanon who broke away… will not return to their homes in southern Litani until the safety of northern Israel residents is guaranteed.” Through this lens, the displacement of the Shiite population appears less like a temporary military necessity and more like a move to permanently displace the civilian population along religious lines.
As the world watches mass displacement and destruction, countries with influence over Israel should use it to stop ongoing atrocities, including by imposing targeted sanctions, halting arms transfers, banning trade with illegal settlements, ending preferential trade agreements, and supporting the International Criminal Court, including executing arrest warrants, and supporting ongoing investigations.
The lack of accountability for violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza and the West Bank must also end. Absent meaningful international pressure and credible prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Israeli authorities and the military will remain emboldened to pursue a strategy of forced displacement and permanent refusal of return across the region.
The international community can and must do better. The government must act urgently to end the possibility of forced displacement of Lebanese civilians, ensure their right to return, and prevent further attacks on Lebanese civilians.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
