Snapshot
Lebanon has faced recurrent armed conflicts and instability since independence in 1943. Since 1967, the Shebaa Farms have remained under Israeli occupation and, following its intervention in the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), Israel also occupied a southern security zone until 2000. In 1978, the United Nations deployed UNIFIL. Hezbollah emerged during the civil war as an Iran-backed political and military actor with strong influence in Lebanon and opposing the Israeli presence. After the 2006 hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the latter continued to carry out isolated attacks against Israeli presence in the Shebaa Farms area. Starting from 8 October 2023, following the Israeli military intervention in Gaza, cross border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated, culminating in an Israeli ground operation in October 2024 and a ceasefire on 26 November 2024. Israeli withdrawal remained incomplete and strikes continued throughout 2025. Following the US-Israeli attack on Iran, hostilities resumed in March 2026, with Hezbollah attacks met by Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion that seized parts of southern Lebanon south of the Litani River and displaced around one million people. Despite a temporary ceasefire agreed in April 2026 and renewed in May, Israeli strikes continued and Israel stated it would not withdraw from the territory it had seized.
Classifications and Parties to the Conflicts
- Israel’s military occupation of Lebanese territory
- International armed conflict between Israel and Lebanon
- Non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah
Other Actors
- United Nations Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
Israeli military operations in Lebanon in 2026 caused extensive civilian harm. Israeli airstrikes repeatedly hit densely populated residential areas, and more than 1,400 buildings were destroyed between March and mid-April alone, after Israel’s defence minister ordered the destruction of Lebanese homes near the border to be accelerated on the ‘model in Gaza’. Israel also used white phosphorus over residential areas and agricultural land in the south, and destroyed cultural property, including the 400-year-old Great Mosque of Bint Jbeil, with no evidence offered that it was being used for military purposes. Journalists and medical personnel were among the victims. Rights groups concluded that Israel deliberately attacked journalists, and attacks on healthcare killed around 100 health workers and closed six hospitals, with repeated ‘double-tap’ strikes hitting first responders who had come to help the wounded. Israeli evacuation orders covering some fourteen per cent of Lebanese territory displaced between 1.1 and 1.2 million people. Israel also held Lebanese nationals in detention it later admitted was unjustified, and the ICRC has had no access to detainees held in Israel since October 2023.
Classification
Historical Background
Initial instability and territorial disputes
Lebanon has experienced repeated armed conflicts and instability since independence in 1943. The Six-Day War of 1967 left the Shebaa Farms (which Israel treats as part of the Golan Heights, while Lebanon claims as Lebanese) under Israeli control. Subsequent purported annexation of the Golan Heights by Israel is without legal effect, and the area has been continuously considered as Israeli-occupied territory. After the withdrawal of Israel from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah maintained that the withdrawal was incomplete due to the continued Israeli presence in the Shebaa Farms.
Lebanese Civil War and foreign interventions
The Lebanese Civil War (which lasted from 1975 to 1990) drew in the neighbouring States of Syria and Israel. Following its intervention in 1978 and again in 1982, Israel maintained an occupation of a southern security zone until 2000. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established in 1978 to monitor hostilities and assist in the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty in the south, with its mandate evolving over time.
Emergence and profile of Hezbollah
Hezbollah arose during the Lebanese Civil War as a Shiite political-military actor backed by Iran, exercising significant military, political, and social influence within Lebanon and opposing Israel and Western influence in the Middle East. It maintains close ties to a broader network of Iran-aligned non-State armed groups in the region. During the first two decades of its existence, Hezbollah prioritized driving the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) out of southern Lebanon.
The hostilities in July 2006 between Hezbollah and Israel (characterized by attacks by the former and a re-invasion of southern Lebanon by the latter) involved both an international armed conflict and a non-international armed conflict, prompting the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1701. Hezbollah has since carried out isolated attacks against Israeli presence in the Shebaa Farms area.
Since October 2023, Hezbollah has been carrying attacks on Israel in response to the Israeli actions in Gaza. Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel flared again in 2026.
Regional involvement of Hezbollah
Beyond Lebanon, Hezbollah has played a substantial role in the Syrian civil war supporting the Assad regime and has been implicated in attacks against United States personnel and interests in the region.
Key Developments (2023–2025)
- Targeted assassinations on high-value targets: Throughout the 2026 hostilities, Israel has killed several high-ranking leaders of Hezbollah. It also claimed to have killed 250 Hezbollah members in a single day in April 2026.
- Implementation of 26 November 2024 ceasefire agreement: Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a ceasefire on 26 November 2024 to end the hostilities that started in October 2023. Part of the agreement involves Hezbollah handing over all its weapons to the Lebanese State and by January 2026, one phase of this was completed. The State is pushing forward with the second phase, which involves taking control of all weapons north of the Litani River, but Hezbollah has maintained that it will not give up any of its arsenal in this area.
- Presidential and municipal elections: Joseph Aoun was elected President of Lebanon on 9 January 2025 and nominated Nawaf Salam as Prime Minister. Municipal elections in May 2025 saw Hezbollah and Amal retain core bases while reformist lists advanced.
- UN peacekeeping: Lebanon requested that UNIFIL’s mandate was renewed for the final time until 31 December 2026. All peacekeepers are to be fully withdrawn by the end of 2027. Several UNFIL peacekeepers were killed, reportedly by unnamed non-State actors, during the 2026 hostilities.
- Renewed hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in March 2026: Following the US-Israeli attack on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hezbollah launched revenge attacks on Israel. The two parties have traded airstrikes and Israel sent ground forces into southern Lebanon as early as March 2026. Hostilities continued even after the April ceasefire between the United States, Iran, and Israel.
- Israeli invasion and seizure of parts of Southern Lebanon and attacks on bridges: Through its ground advance into southern Lebanon, Israel managed to seize a 10km stretch of southern Lebanon, severing it from the north of the country by destroying all bridges that traverse the Litani River. One million people were displaced and in March 2026, Israel declared that it would not be withdrawing from the land it seized.
- Israeli Attacks on journalists and medical staff: In the 2026 hostilities, Israel targeted and killed several Lebanese journalists and medical staff operating in southern Lebanon.
- The 2026 ceasefire and its aftermath: In April 2026, it was announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a temporary ceasefire. It was renewed again in May 2026. Despite this, Israel continued to carry out attacks on Hezbollah on Lebanese territory.
International Armed Conflict
Israel vs Lebanon
Following Hezbollah’s attack on the Shebaa Farms and missiles launches into Israeli territory since October 2023, Israel conducted repeated airstrikes into Lebanon and, from October 2024, launched a ground operation, alongside intensified strikes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut. Under IHL, an international armed conflict (IAC) is triggered when one or more States resort to armed force against another State; this includes attacks directed at the other State’s territory, and it is not necessary that attacks be directed against the armed forces of that State. A ceasefire agreed on 26 November 2024 required an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon within sixty days, yet cross-border fire, alleged violations, and Israeli statements on maintaining forces in southern Lebanon demonstrate that the conflict persisted beyond the truce. Rocket launches from Lebanon in March 2025 and subsequent Israeli strikes, including on Beirut, further confirm continuing armed confrontation. Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah flared up again in March 2026, and despite a ceasefire coming into effect in April 2026, Israel has continued to launch attacks on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon without Lebanese consent. Accordingly, IHL governing IACs remains applicable.
Israel has controlled the Shebaa Farms since 1967 and administers them as part of the Golan Heights, while Lebanon, supported by Syria, considers the area as Lebanese. Under IHL, occupation exists when foreign forces are present without consent, substantially impede the local government to exercise its authority, and are able to establish their own authority. These cumulative conditions are met in the Shebaa Farms and adjacent areas due to sustained Israeli military presence and administration that prevent Lebanon from exercising its powers. Comparable features are evident at additional border positions, including Ghajar and five strategic outposts, where Israeli control has been consolidated and the area cut off from Lebanese governance. Israel has also taken control of large parts of Lebanese territory to the south of the Litani River, extending the territory it occupies. Accordingly, parts of southern Lebanon remain under belligerent occupation notwithstanding the April 2026 ceasefire, which did not remove Israel’s effective control.
Non-International Armed Conflict
Israel vs Hezbollah
Israel has been party to an extraterritorial non-international armed conflict (NIAC) with Hezbollah since 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel and Israel responded with cross-border force. Since then, sustained exchanges of rockets, missiles and drones, targeted strikes and ground incursions into southern Lebanon, alongside repeated air operations in the south, the Bekaa and Beirut, have produced recurring casualties and displacement, meeting the threshold of protracted armed violence under IHL. Hezbollah is sufficiently organized, with centralized leadership through the Shura and Jihad Councils, a hierarchical chain of command, dedicated media and security structures, sizeable combat-experienced forces, and robust logistics and arsenals with external support. Israeli operations have targeted leadership, infrastructure and munitions, yet Hezbollah retains significant operational capacity. A ceasefire effective 27 November 2024 provided for withdrawals and redeployments but did not end the NIAC, and recurrent cross-border fire and stated intentions to maintain positions indicate continuing hostilities. Hostilities flared up again in March 2026, leading to the two parties exchanging airstrikes and ground fire (this after an Israeli ground invasion into southern Lebanon in March 2026).
Key Parties to the conflict
State Parties
- Israel
- Lebanon
Non-State Parties
- Hezbollah
Other Main Actors
- United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
Civilian Harm
Reporting period: 2026
ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS
Israel has committed serious violations of IHL, including through indiscriminate attacks in residential areas of Lebanon, and its targeting of journalists and medical personnel and facilities. The IDF claims to operate in accordance with IHL and says that it does not allow the destruction of property unless there is an imperative military necessity. It also claims, but without providing evidence, that Hezbollah has embedded military infrastructure within civilian objects and areas.
Attacks against journalists
Israel has killed numerous journalists in its conduct of hostilities against Hezbollah, including in the course of 2026, and often in circumstances that seem to constitute war crimes. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), as of April, Israel had killed at least fourteen journalists in Lebanon since 2023.
Attacks against medical personnel
Medical personnel have special protection under IHL as do hospitals and other health facilities. Multiple attacks by Israeli forces are believed to have been directed at both medical facilities and medical personnel. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), attacks on healthcare during the first half of the year occurred daily, closing six hospitals and damaging fifteen others following 2 March. The attacks have resulted in the death of 100 healthcare workers.
ATTACKS ON CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE
In March and April 2026, Israeli airstrikes repeatedly struck densely populated residential areas across Lebanon, severely damaging both civilian infrastructure and residential buildings. Satellite imagery analysis by BBC Verify indicated that more than 1,400 buildings were destroyed between 2 March and 16 April alone.
Cultural property receives special protection under IHL. It may only be attacked if it is a military objective and if its destruction is warranted by imperative military necessity. In March 2026, Israel attacked and destroyed the minaret of a mosque in Khiam. In April, a 400-year-old Great Mosque in the historic centre of the city of Bint Jbeil was destroyed.
VIOLATIONS AGAINST PERSONS IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY
There have been continuing instances of arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Lebanese civilians.
There have been continuing instances of arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Lebanese civilians. On 9 June 2026, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir even proposed arresting women and children of Hezbollah fighters ‘and taking them to terrorist prisons’.