WASHINGTON

Human Rights Watch warned Thursday that Israeli plans to expand a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon risk a “war crime of forced displacement.”

“The sweeping nature of the displacement orders, and the statements that do not address the protection of the displaced civilians, raises concerns of the war crime of forced displacement,” it said in a statement, citing statements by Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, that residents may be barred from returning home.

“For over two years, Israel’s allies and European states … have buried their heads in the sand as atrocities continue in Lebanon, as in Gaza,” Ramzi Kaiss, the group’s Lebanon researcher, said in a statement.

It added that “countries that continue to provide Israel with arms and military aid risk complicity” in serious violations.

“Deliberately targeting civilians, civilian objects, and others protected under international law would be a war crime, and countries supplying Israel with weapons need to realize they are risking complicity in war crimes too,” added Kaiss.

The group also said it has documented several “unlawful attacks” in Lebanon using US-made weapons since October 2023.

Israel has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah, which responded with rocket fire, citing Israeli attacks despite a November 2024 ceasefire, and the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a Feb. 28 US-Israeli strike.

Lebanese authorities said at least 1,116 people have since been killed and 3,229 injured in Israeli attacks, while more than 1 million have been displaced.

The escalation came amid a joint US-Israeli offensive on Iran, which has killed more than 1,340 people since Feb. 28. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, US bases and Gulf countries.