A Strategy of Ruin: Examining IDF Demolitions as a Displacement Strategy in Southern Lebanon

Disclaimer: this is the private work of Karim, committee member of the Amnesty Student Group Utrecht (AISU) PR-committee, and does not represent an official Amnesty International analysis.

On the morning of September 23, 2024, Israel launched a large-scale air offensive into Lebanese territory, the first offensive of its kind since the Second Lebanon War of 2006. While Israeli sources conveyed the strikes as calculated retaliation for the low-intensity conflict it had been waging with Hezbollah, casualty reports from the Lebanese Ministry of Health indicate a far more indiscriminate approach to the bombing campaign. By nightfall 558 Lebanese civilians, including 50 children and 94 women, were killed, and over 1,800 wounded, marking Lebanon’s single most deadly day since its civil war. Over the next 65 days, relentless bombardment, assassinations, and an Israeli ground invasion into Southern Lebanon’s border villages created an unprecedented degree of destruction and displacement.

Held together by a fragile ceasefire implemented on the 27th of November, what “peace” has been sustained since hostilities have died down has been overshadowed by an Israeli reluctance to withdraw from Southern Lebanon, alongside what has been viewed as a deliberate demolition campaign by the IDF. Since the implementation of the ceasefire in November until February of this year, the IDF has continuously engaged in controlled demolitions of entire neighborhoods across the border region, looted residential areas and private property, and set fire to the homes of Lebanese civilians.

As demolitions continue across the border region, the delayed Israeli withdrawal has grown to become what appears to be a deliberate attempt by the IDF to use the ceasefire period to make Lebanese villages uninhabitable, thereby precluding – at minimum complicating – the return of civilians. To that end, IDF tactics have been viewed by Lebanese authorities as an excuse to maintain territorial control. Thus, while the announcement of the ceasefire in January brought relief to the Lebanese, the situation has evidently deteriorated into a one-sided cessation of hostilities, where Israeli forces continue to engage in acts that could potentially violate international human rights norms.

Documented Destruction: Ceasefire Violations in Southern Lebanon

Despite the ceasefire, 840 breaches of the agreement have been recorded, many of which involve systematic demolitions of civilian infrastructure and residential units. Throughout the truce, entire neighborhoods have been bulldozed in approximately 37 border towns. To put things into perspective, the Washington Post reported that Israeli forces destroyed an average of 26 buildings per day in southern Lebanon during the ceasefire period—a rate of destruction far exceeding that of active combat operations. Eyewitness reports and verified videos have documented Israeli forces using explosives and bulldozers to raze civilian homes, with towns adjacent to the border like Kfar Kila, Yaroun, Khiam, and Maroun al Ras being flattened.

Israeli military officials justify these actions under the pretext of liquidating Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, namely tunnels and forward operating bases. That said, Lebanese sources have reported multiple instances of IDF soldiers setting fire to civilian homes instead of demolishing them with explosives, as is typically done when targeting tunnels. This deviation from standard demolition methods suggests that the fires may have served alternative purposes, such as collective punishment of the civilian population or the intentional rendering of residential structures uninhabitable. Furthermore, the destruction of religious shrines and landmarks of cultural significance to Lebanon and the people of its Southern region further points to possible intentions of cultural desecration and erasure. This has included the destruction of the historic Shrine of Shimon in Chamaa, and the shrine of Prophet Benjamin in Mhaibib which was demolished along with the village’s historic neighborhood.

Israel’s Track Record Humanitarian Law Violations in Lebanon:

As dictated by humanitarian law,  an object must demonstrably contribute to military action and its destruction must yield a definitive military advantage to qualify as a legitimate target. To that end, the claim of Hezbollah military assets being conveniently positioned by targeted civilian structures has arguably served as a convenient justification for the IDF’s impunity with respect to the wellbeing and human rights of Lebanese civilians. Furthermore, as is frequently the case, definitive statements by Israeli officials that explicitly indicate a desire or policy to engage in the deliberate destruction and thus displacement of civilians are rare. Israel’s track record of human rights violations in Lebanon over the past months strongly suggests a blatant disregard for international law—if not a systematic attempt at forced displacement and punishment.

A striking instance of IDF impunity was the harrowing attack on the municipal headquarters in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on 16 October, killing the city's mayor along with 15 others during a meeting held to organize relief operations for the city's remaining residents. Another example, also in Nabatieh, was the destruction of an Ottoman-era market in the city’s center. Additionally, one can also look at the IDF’s reaction to the return of Lebanese civilians to their towns after the expiration of the initially agreed upon withdrawal date of January 6th, 2025. To that end, attempts of Lebanese civilians to return to their villages were met with gunfire from Israeli snipers that claimed the lives of at least 22 Lebanese civilians and injured 124 others, including women, children, and a paramedic in various locations across the Blue Line. More recently, returning residents to the occupied town of Houla were also fired upon, killing 14-year-old Khadija Atwi and trapping her family in the village. Such events have been viewed by many as an attempt to disincentivize Southerners from returning to their villages with other tactics such as tear gas, flash grenades, roadblocks, and tanks being used to prevent entry into areas occupied by the IDF after the ceasefire’s implementation.

Image: Nabatieh’s Historic Central Market Destroyed by Israeli Airstrikes. Source: The New Arab

A Call for Investigation:

Based on the above examples, the potentially willful and  unjustified destruction of property without clear military necessity in Southern Lebanon may constitute violations of international human rights law. This includes provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention (specifically article 33) which dictates the illegality of the punitive destruction of property without apparent military necessity. To that end, the continued occupation, mass displacement, and destruction of Lebanese villages could reflect a systematic effort to exert control through collective punishment. Whether through the destruction of civilian homes, targeting unarmed residents with snipers, or intimidating villagers  with tanks and gunfire, Israel’s behavior under the continued military occupation of southern Lebanon demands urgent international attention. Given Israel’s record of similar violations and its recent military actions across the Blue Line, IDF demolition tactics should  be investigated under the pretext of constituting further violations of international law.