Independent Experts Condemn Escalating Violence In The Middle East, Urge Ceasefire And Accountability

GENEVA (6 August 2024) – Independent experts* today deplored escalating violence in the Middle East, including a rocket apparently fired from Lebanon that killed 12 children in Syria’s Golan Heights, occupied by Israel, and Israel’s alleged killing in response of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Lebanon.

They also condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political chief and a former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, in Iran.

“We are extremely concerned by these killings, which violate the human right to life and risk perilous further escalation of violence and displacement in the region,” they said.

The experts strongly condemned a rocket attack on 28 July reportedly launched from Lebanon against Majdal Shams, a village in the occupied Syrian Golan, which killed 12 Druze children and injured 42 other people. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967 and purported to annex it in 1981, in violation of international law. Israel claims that Hezbollah was responsible, but Hezbollah has denied the attack.

“This attack appears to be in violation of both international humanitarian law and international human rights law”, the experts said. “In addition, all countries have a duty to prevent the use of their territories by non-state actors to launch cross-border violence endangering civilians, and to investigate and prosecute or extradite those who commit such acts,” the experts said.

Israel responded by killing a Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukur, in a residential area of Beirut on 30 July, in a strike that also reportedly killed a boy and a girl and three women and wounded 74 people. “We are alarmed at such reckless disregard for the human right to life, in violation of international humanitarian law, and the dangerous escalation of the border conflict with Hezbollah to the peaceful capital city of Lebanon,” the experts said.

The experts also condemned the alleged killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July, which bears the hallmark of an Israeli operation. “If confirmed, this would amount to an extrajudicial killing and the crime of murder. All states are prohibited from arbitrarily depriving individuals of their right to life, including in military operations abroad,” they said. “Killings abroad are further illegal when they violate the prohibition on the use of armed force against another country under Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter”, they said.

“The killing of Haniyeh, a key political leader, amidst urgent and delicate ceasefire negotiations also thwarts the best immediate chance for peace and the safe release of those taken hostage on 7 October 2023”, the experts said. It has also destroyed efforts to bring Haniyeh to justice before the International Criminal Court. “This assassination not only exacerbates a dire conflict but destabilises the whole region, undermines multilateralism, and impedes the United Nations’ search for a diplomatic solution according to international law.”

All three incidents highlight the vital need for full, independent and impartial investigations, including access to all pertinent evidence and full cooperation from relevant countries, to establish the facts of the killings and ensure accountability.

To protect innocent civilian lives, the experts urged all parties to immediately cease fire on all fronts. They also called on the Security Council to fulfill its responsibility to effectively respond to all actors in the region whose actions threaten international peace and security.

*The experts: Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967; Mai Sato, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; Cecilia M. Bailliet, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing; Ashwini K.P., Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association; Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; and Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

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