UN to send investigators to Lebanon over potential law breaches, rights chief says

GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office will deploy a team of investigators to Lebanon next week to examine potential violations of international law by all parties involved in the ongoing conflict, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said on Wednesday.

Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East conflict on March 2 when the Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Iran, which was under U.S. and Israeli attack. The escalation triggered a large-scale Israeli air and ground campaign.

“It’s the first time that we are sending this assessment mission, and the idea is indeed to look at violations by all parties — violations of international law, violations of international human rights law, and to document this, and eventually to report back to you on our findings,” Türk said.

The violence has taken a heavy toll. More than 3,600 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, while more than one million people have been displaced, according to U.N. figures. Although the United States announced a ceasefire on April 16, hostilities have continued, with Lebanon reporting nearly 3,500 additional Israeli strikes since the truce was declared.

The office of Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Salam had earlier said during a cabinet meeting in May that it was important to continue documenting potential crimes and submitting them to the United Nations, according to Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos.

Morcos also said at the time that an agreement had been reached with the U.N. human rights chief for an upcoming visit to conduct investigations in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation continues to worsen. The U.N. warns that nearly one in four people in Lebanon — about 1.24 million — are expected to face crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity through August, underscoring the rapidly deepening impact of the conflict. -Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, editing by Linda Pasquini, Editing by William Maclean/Reuters