Joint NGO and Media Organization Letter to the Lebanese Ministry of Justice

H.E. Tarek Mitri

Deputy Prime Minister,

Government of Lebanon

Chair of the National Committee on International Humanitarian Law

H.E. Adel Nassar,

Minister of Justice,

Government of Lebanon

February 25, 2026

Your Excellencies,

We, the undersigned Lebanese and international human rights and media organizations, are writing to you today to highlight the urgent need for decisive action from the government of Lebanon to ensure justice, accountability and reparations for victims of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Lebanon since October 2023. 

Since a ceasefire went into effect between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024, the Israeli military’s attacks in Lebanon have continued and killed more than 381 people, including more than 127 civilians, and injured over 1000 people. While the Israeli military partially withdrew from most of the Lebanese villages and towns in which they were positioned between October 2024 and February 2025, near daily Israeli attacks have continued to inflict grave harms on civilians in southern Lebanon, preventing the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents to their homes. More concerningly, these attacks continue to take place in a context of complete impunity, where victims of violations have no recourse to domestic or international accountability mechanisms or access to effective remedies and reparations.

Since October 2023, Lebanese and international human rights and media organizations have documented a series of unlawful attacks committed during the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including:

• Deliberate attacks on civilians, including journalists[1], and peacekeepers, as well as on civilian objects.[2]
• Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians.[3]
• Deliberate destruction of civilian objects and property[4], including the extensive and deliberate destruction of civilian property and agricultural land.[5]
• The unlawful destruction of reconstruction equipment.[6]
• Unlawful attacks on health facilities and medical workers.[7]
• Widespread use of white phosphorus, including unlawfully, over populated areas.[8]
• Unlawful and indiscriminate attacks conducted using booby-trapped devices.[9]

As the respective Chair of the National Committee on International Humanitarian Law and the Minister of Justice, you are uniquely positioned to lead government efforts to ensure that serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, committed in Lebanon may be subject to domestic or international investigations and, potentially, the prosecution of alleged perpetrators. More importantly, you are uniquely positioned to take historic steps that may, once and for all, end the climate of impunity that has long plagued periods of armed conflict in Lebanon and lay the groundwork for victims and affected communities to access their right to full, effective and adequate reparations. As such, we write to encourage you to introduce an agenda item at the next Cabinet meeting to discuss the following actions that may be taken by the Government of Lebanon with respect to past and ongoing violations of international humanitarian law:

1. Accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, to investigate and prosecute crimes committed on Lebanese territory since at least October 7, 2023, with the view towards eventually ratifying the Rome Statute in the near future.
2. Tasking the National Committee on International Humanitarian law with finalizing the drafting of a law criminalizing war crimes, and other crimes under international law, in Lebanon, to be urgently introduced to parliament.
3. Establishing a specialized unit for documenting serious violations of international humanitarian law committed on Lebanese territory and establishing a registrar to record all killings, injuries, and other damages to civilians.
4. Committing to fully supporting domestic judicial investigations into violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, committed on Lebanese territory, ensuring these investigations are conducted by the civilian authorities where they concern civilians, and providing the necessary resources for the completion of such investigations

We also encourage the government to explore other available legal avenues, both at home and internationally, to ensure that serious violations of international humanitarian law, and gross violations of international human rights law are investigated and prosecuted and victims’ rights enforced, including their right to reparations. This includes inviting the UN Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, and reparation to conduct a country visit to recommend measures that all parties can take to uphold victims’ rights.

We thank you for your attention to this letter and would greatly welcome the opportunity to discuss our recommendations with you in person. 

Thank you in advance for considering our request.

Sincerely,

Signatories:

1. Amnesty International 
2. Human Rights Watch
3. The Union of Journalists in Lebanon 
4. The Legal Agenda
5. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)