Mitri urges unified approach in logging Israeli war crimes

Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri has urged civil society groups and observers to share their documenting of Israeli war crimes in the country, as part of efforts to potentially hold Tel Aviv accountable in future.

Mitri made the remarks after a discussion hosted on Thursday by The Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Beirut on "Israeli violations of international humanitarian law".

The session was also attended by Lebanese parliament members, most notably MP Inaya Ezzeddine, MP Ibrahim Mneimneh and MP Michel Moussa.

"We discussed the importance of documenting Israeli violations, the work of the National Committee and the call to enrich it with contributions from the active forces in society", adding that "the dialogue addressed the outcomes of this work and its moral and political impact," Mitri wrote on X after the session.

A press statement distributed by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Beirut said Mitri addressed Israel's crimes and its violation of international human rights law.

The session highlighted the process of documenting Israeli violations of international humanitarian law during the recent war on Lebanon, as well as the methodology and mechanisms adopted by the National Committee for International Humanitarian Law in Lebanon to collect information, document violations and verify them.

Mitri recalled statements by "enemy leaders and their threats to make Lebanon another Gaza".

He also discussed the civilisational and environmental genocide to which Lebanon is being subjected, as well as Israel's crimes against humanity, reviewing the issue of documenting Israeli crimes and violations to work toward prosecuting Israel for its crimes.

Mitri called on civil society groups, and everyone who has worked to document Israeli crimes, to share their research with the Lebanese government to enrich the reports that the government is preparing.

He stressed the need to unify efforts and endeavours on this issue, praising in this regard "the volunteers who are working without pay so far in the National Committee for International Humanitarian Law to document Israeli crimes".

He said the Lebanese government is working to establish a permanent centre to carry out this task.

Regarding the possibility of pursuing Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mitri said Lebanon is not a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, preventing the Lebanese state from taking up a case against Israel there.

At the same time, Mitri said the ICC can, under specific circumstances and through defined mechanisms, accept jurisdiction to consider crimes committed during a certain period, even if the state concerned has not fully joined the Rome Statute.

However, he stressed that the inability of the Lebanese state at present to approach the ICC does not remove the right of Lebanese individuals to pursue Israel before many European courts, such as those in Spain, Belgium and France.

Some European judicial systems allow, under specific conditions, the filing of cases related to international crimes or serious violations.

For his part, Nasser Yassin, director of the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Beirut, said the centre in Beirut has worked since the beginning of the recent war on Lebanon to highlight Israeli violations and the cost of the war, particularly the direct and indirect damage to various vital sectors in Lebanon.

It has done so by holding discussion sessions and workshops, as well as preparing and publishing situation assessment reports, position papers and research papers covering the education, health and agriculture sectors.

Yassin stressed the urgent need at this stage to "activate respect for international humanitarian law by respecting civilians and their lives and not targeting health workers or humanitarian service workers".

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.