Human Rights Watch: Israeli Evacuation Orders in Lebanon Persist After April Ceasefire, Raising Possible War‑crimes Concerns

Human Rights Watch said Wednesday that Israeli strikes and evacuation orders in Lebanon have continued despite a U.S.-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that took effect around April 17, leaving about 1 million people still displaced and at least 1,417 people killed since then. In an update published June 11, the rights group said the figures came from U.N. humanitarian agencies and Lebanese official data, and argued that the continued displacement of civilians raises possible war crimes concerns.

HRW said Israel ordered residents of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and nearby towns and refugee camps to leave on June 7 and again on June 9. About a week earlier, Israeli forces had ordered more than 34,000 families out of Lebanon’s South and Nabatieh governorates and 50,000 families out of Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs figures cited by HRW. On May 27, the Israeli military also declared the area south of the Zahrani River a “combat zone” and told residents to evacuate north of the river. HRW said the area covered by that order accounts for nearly 14% of Lebanon’s territory.

Citing Lebanon’s Health Ministry, HRW said Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 3,711 people since the latest escalation began on March 2, including 132 health workers and 247 children. Since the April 17 ceasefire took effect, at least 1,417 people have been killed, HRW said, including 32 health workers and at least 70 children. Those are Lebanese official casualty figures cited by HRW, and conflict death tolls have been updated frequently.

Israel’s military said publicly that the evacuation south of the Zahrani River was tied to operations against Hezbollah. In a warning posted by its Arabic-language account and quoted by Reuters on May 27, the Israel Defense Forces said: “We advise residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of the Zahrani River, as all areas south of the river are considered a combat zone.”

The legal claim at the center of HRW’s update is that the evacuation orders may be unlawful if they are not justified by civilians’ safety or imperative military reasons. “These deliberate acts of displacement may amount to war crimes of forced displacement,” Human Rights Watch said. The group presented that as a legal allegation, not a court finding, and said it has previously documented other alleged laws-of-war violations in Lebanon.

HRW called on governments allied with Israel to halt arms sales and military assistance, suspend trade arrangements including the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials credibly implicated in abuses. It also urged Lebanon to ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court, and to accept the court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed in Lebanon since at least October 2023.