The National Human Rights Commission, including the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, expresses its deep concern and strong condemnation of the continued spraying by Israeli forces of toxic chemical substances over agricultural lands and border areas in southern Lebanon, particularly the herbicide “glyphosate,” as part of repeated attacks that constitute a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international rules governing environmental protection during armed conflicts.
The Commission affirms that these substances are deliberately and repeatedly used in populated civilian and agricultural areas, despite well-established scientific and legal evidence of their serious effects on soil, groundwater, crops, and biodiversity, as well as their grave risks to public health. This use cannot be separated from a broader pattern of practices targeting land, populations, and livelihoods, leading to the systematic destruction of the natural environment and the essential resources necessary for civilian survival.
The Commission considers that the repeated and systematic spraying of toxic chemicals on Lebanese territory cannot be justified as a collateral effect of the conflict. Rather, it falls within a deliberate policy that causes widespread and long-term environmental damage, strips local communities of their sources of livelihood, undermines food security, and imposes coercive living conditions that force residents to flee or prevent their safe and dignified return. Accordingly, the Commission views these acts as amounting to a crime of ecocide, given their sustained destructive impact on ecosystems and on fundamental human rights, including the right to life, the right to health, the right to food and water, and the right to a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment.
Attacks on the environment in the context of armed conflict constitute, in essence, direct attacks on civilians and violate the core principles of international humanitarian law, in particular the principles of distinction between civilian objects and military objectives, proportionality, and the obligation to take precautions to protect the civilian population. The destruction of natural resources on which civilians depend for survival also amounts to a form of prohibited collective punishment and may, if proven to be systematic and widespread, constitute a war crime, and even a crime against humanity when used as a means to subjugate or forcibly displace populations.
These practices have deepened humanitarian and social suffering in southern Lebanon, especially among farmers and families who depend on agriculture as their primary source of income. Vast areas of farmland have been damaged, soils have been degraded in ways that are difficult to remedy in the short term, and concerns about long-term health effects, particularly on children, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses, have increased. These harms have exacerbated poverty and economic vulnerability and weakened the capacity of local communities to withstand and recover from crises.
In this context, the National Human Rights Commission stresses that the gravity of these violations requires urgent and effective international action that goes beyond statements of condemnation and puts an end to policies of impunity. Accordingly, the Commission calls for the establishment of an independent, permanent international investigative mechanism, equipped with adequate human and technical resources, to investigate all alleged human rights violations, breaches of international humanitarian law, and crimes under international law committed by Israel in Lebanon since October 2023. The mandate of this mechanism should include documenting facts, collecting and preserving evidence in accordance with international standards, identifying the circumstances, context, and root causes of these violations, and paving the way for accountability, identification of perpetrators, and ensuring victims’ rights to truth, justice, and reparation.
The Commission also underscores the necessity of referring crimes committed in Lebanon to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as the competent international judicial body for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious international crimes. In this regard, the Commission calls on the Lebanese State to reverse its unjustified retreat from the Council of Ministers’ decision of 26 April 2024, which accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes within its mandate committed on Lebanese territory since 7 October 2023, and to proceed with activating this acceptance in accordance with Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, thereby enabling the prosecution of perpetrators without selectivity or double standards.
The Commission emphasizes that serious environmental crimes, especially those committed systematically in the context of armed conflict, must not remain outside the scope of international criminal accountability and are not subject to statutes of limitation. The absence of accountability is a key factor in the recurrence of violations and the continued suffering of civilians.
The National Human Rights Commission, including the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, affirms that the protection of human beings is inseparable from the protection of their land, environment, and natural resources. An attack on the environment is an attack on life itself, on human dignity, and on the future of coming generations. While renewing its commitment to pursuing this file at both national and international levels, the Commission calls on all official bodies and the international community to assume their legal and moral responsibilities, to work seriously to halt these crimes, hold perpetrators accountable, ensure justice for victims, and safeguard the right of the Lebanese people to live in safety and dignity in a healthy environment.
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