As the Israeli war continues to escalate, the Lebanese Parliament has voted 76-41 to extend their term in office by two additional years. Elections were meant to be held in May, but the soaring number of displaced civilians would make holding a vote exceedingly difficult, even assuming the war itself ends by then.
The number of displaced was reported around 30,000 this time last week. The latest figures from UNICEF suggest it is closer 700,000 displaced, including some 200,000 children. The number continues to rise, as evacuation orders are imposed across the country. Israel’s Defense Minister said he’d heard over a million had been displaced in Lebanon.
Israel has been carrying out near daily attacks on Lebanon for well over a year, but the formal “new war” was launched last Monday. Since then an estimated 486 Lebanese have been killed. The IDF suggests 200 of them were Hezbollah, though evidence remains scant on specific identities.
White phosphorus munitions strike the residential area of Yohmor | Image from social media
Human Rights Watch issued a report Monday on Israeli war crimes committed in the past week, detailing that the IDF had fired white phosphorus artillery munitions against the residential areas in the town of Yohmor, in southern Lebanon.
Though international law permits the use of white phosphorus by militaries for the purpose of illumination, it is strictly banned to use it as a weapon of war, particularly against populated areas. The ban is part of the Chemical Weapons Convention, of which Israel is a signatory.
The Israel use of white phosphorus against civilian targets has been a recurring problem in their assorted wars for decades. Despite this record of illegality in its use, the United States has continued to sell Israel such munitions.
Today’s Israeli attacks on Lebanon are reported to focus on targeting branches of a “Hezbollah-affiliated” bank. Two of the bank branches in Beirut, including the one near the airport, were targeted Monday. The government blocked roads leading to a third branch in the city as well, apparently anticipating further attacks.
The bank, al-Qard al-Hasan, got its start as a Hezbollah-backed charitable institution to assist Shi’ites during the civil war. Though it has remained active on that front as well, in 2019-2020 the Lebanese banking system itself collapsed during a financial crisis, and al-Qard al-Hasan expanded into being a de facto alternative banking system, that has become increasingly common in Lebanon. Because of its historical links to Hezbollah, Israel has presented al-Qard al-Hasan itself as a “terrorist organization” and has commonly been a target of Israel during its various wars against Lebanon.