We go to Lebanon, where an Israeli invasion is in full swing along the southern border. Israel has announced the expansion of its so-called buffer zone and issued mass evacuation orders as its military destroys homes and infrastructure throughout the region. A humanitarian crisis is brewing as hospitals have been blocked from receiving medical supplies and as healthcare workers, as well as other civilians, have been killed in targeted Israeli strikes. “This is a war again that’s been ongoing since October 2023, and over the past two-and-a-half years we’ve documented repeated, apparently deliberate, attacks on civilians,” says Human Right Watch researcher Ramzi Kaiss, speaking from Beirut. “But what’s different this time around is that there’s a new brazenness in the statements issued by the Israeli military, where they are simply stating that they intend to commit more war crimes … perhaps a reflection of the state of impunity for any violations that have been committed in Lebanon, as in Gaza.”

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

Israeli strikes across Lebanon Sunday killed at least 15 people as Israeli troops pushed deeper into southern Lebanon. Israel has ordered the expansion of its so-called buffer zone from the Litani River to areas north of the Zahrani River, displacing about one-fifth of Lebanon’s population. Israel continues to bomb bridges across the Litani, isolating the southern region of Lebanon.

Since Israel launched its war against Hezbollah on March 2nd, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, including at least 126 children.

This is Jamal Salim Farran, now homeless after Israeli strikes on Tyre left his neighborhood in ruins.

JAMAL SALIM FARRAN: [translated] Someone who can barely afford their daily bread, can’t even buy a loaf, and then a plane comes and strikes. For what reason? Just because I’m sitting on my land? I will not leave. This is our land, and we will not give it up.

AMY GOODMAN: Beirut was pounded with airstrikes Friday, as Israel claimed it was targeting militant infrastructure.

For more, we go to Lebanon’s capital to speak with Ramzi Kaiss, the Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Ramzi, you’re back from the south of Lebanon. Israel is expanding its so-called buffer zone from the Litani River to the Zahrani River. Can you talk about the significance and what you saw, and, overall, what’s happening in Lebanon?

RAMZI KAISS: Thanks, Amy, and thanks for having me.

As you noted, it’s been over a month since the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, and so far there’s been over 1,460 people that have been killed in Lebanon. This includes over a hundred and — now 130 children, after yesterday’s attacks, 54 medical workers. And Israeli military has ordered nearly 15% of Lebanon’s territory to be evacuated, through displacement orders that they’ve issued as early March 4, to the area south of the Litani River, and then expanded that on March 12, but they have repeatedly reissued those same statements, essentially ordering people to be — to leave those areas.

And not only that, statements that have been issued by Israeli military officials and government officials, such as the defense ministers, have signaled an intent to commit more atrocities. You know, Israel Katz, Israel’s minister of defense, has said that he and Netanyahu have ordered the acceleration of destruction of homes along Lebanon’s border, that they have — that they will be preventing hundreds of thousands of Shia residents from returning to their homes south of the Litani River, and that they could conduct, as well, strikes that could target civilians. This was mentioned in displacement orders issued for the southern suburbs of Beirut between March 11 and 15.

More recently, bridges across the Litani River have been struck. Most of the bridges have been struck. I was in the city of Sour, or Tyre, last week, and residents, municipality officials, health workers and hospital officials told us that, essentially, there’s one lifeline left into the city and other areas south of the Litani that tens of thousands of people who remain south of the Litani River, despite these displacement orders, depend on. They depend on it for humanitarian supplies going into those areas, for medical supplies, for supplies needed for hospitals.

And so, with this signaled intent to — by the Israeli military officials, to occupy the area south of the Litani River to prevent people from returning, we are seeing, you know, a humanitarian catastrophe unfold. And should the last bridge, the Qasmiyeh Bridge, you know, be struck, as well, we’re talking about tens of thousands of people being severed not only from the rest of the country, but from access to supplies, humanitarian supplies, medical supplies, that they need for their own survival.

AMY GOODMAN: And Israel’s claims that it’s targeting militant infrastructure, that it is fighting Hezbollah?

RAMZI KAISS: So, the Israeli military has claimed that it has bombed the bridges because they are being used by Hezbollah. But there are also claims that they have, you know, been striking healthcare workers because those vehicles are being used by Hezbollah.

I think what we’re seeing in this war, with particularly the large number of civilians being killed, health workers and journalists, there are many patterns that we’ve documented before. This is a war again that’s been ongoing since October 2023, and over the past two-and-a-half years we’ve documented repeated, apparently deliberate, attacks on civilians. This includes journalists. It includes medical workers. It includes peacekeeping forces. We’ve documented a previously widespread use of white phosphorus, including unlawfully over populated residential areas, and the targeting of civilian objects, such as financial institutions and others. And what we’re seeing now is a, you know, what appears to be a continuation of that same pattern.

But what’s different, I think, this time around is that there’s a new brazenness in the statements issued by the Israeli military, where they are simply stating that they intend to commit more war crimes. They are stating that we will be preventing people, hundreds of thousands of people, from returning to their homes, that we will be destroying homes along the Lebanon border in order to establish a buffer zone, that, you know, we will not hesitate to strike anyone who is near Hezbollah facilities or equipment, which is a different tone than, I think, from what we’ve seen in the last war, and, you know, perhaps a reflection of just the state of impunity for any violations that have been committed in Lebanon, as in Gaza, for the last two-and-a-half years, with no accountability whatsoever for violations of the laws of war.

AMY GOODMAN: Human Rights Watch has also written that Israel’s displacement of civilians in Lebanon is a possible war crime. Ramzi?

RAMZI KAISS: Indeed. And, you know, the statements that have been issued by the Israeli military signal that the displacement of civilians is not necessarily tied to their protection. They’ve specifically singled out Shia residents from the south, you know, from the area south of Litani, saying that they will prevent their return in order — until the establishment — until the safety of Israel’s northern residents is guaranteed. And under international humanitarian law, forced displacement is prohibited, and people should be allowed to return to their homes as soon as the hostilities cease or as soon as the conditions for their displacement cease to exist. But what we’re seeing instead is that the return of people, and particularly of Shia residents in southern Lebanon, is being tied to some vague, undefined safety standard in northern Israel.

AMY GOODMAN: Ramzi Kaiss, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, speaking to us from Beirut, just back from southern Lebanon. Thank you so much. We will link to Human Rights Watch’s reports.

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That does it for the show. Democracy Now! is produced with Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Messiah Rhodes, Nermeen Shaikh, María Taracena, Nicole Salazar, Sara Nasser, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff. II’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.

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