https://truthout.org/video/absence-of-accountability-for-gaza-genocide-has-enabled-israels-war-on-lebanon/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_campaign=2a2540dc9f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_04_06_09_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbb541a1db-2a2540dc9f-650130133
Absence of Accountability
for Gaza Genocide Has Enabled Israel’s War on Lebanon
There has been “no accountability whatsoever for violations
of the laws of war,” says researcher Ramzi Kaiss.
April 6, 2026
We go to Lebanon, where an Israeli invasion is in full swing along
the southern border. Israel has announced the expansion of its so-called buffer
zone and issued mass evacuation orders as its military destroys homes and
infrastructure throughout the region. A humanitarian crisis is brewing as
hospitals have been blocked from receiving medical supplies and as healthcare workers,
as well as other civilians, have been killed in targeted Israeli strikes. “This
is a war again that’s been ongoing since October 2023, and over the past
two-and-a-half years we’ve documented repeated, apparently deliberate, attacks
on civilians,” says Human Right Watch researcher Ramzi Kaiss, speaking from
Beirut. “But what’s different this time around is that there’s a new brazenness
in the statements issued by the Israeli military, where they are simply stating
that they intend to commit more war crimes … perhaps a reflection of the state
of impunity for any violations that have been committed in Lebanon, as in
Gaza.”
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!,
democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Israeli strikes across Lebanon Sunday killed at least 15 people as
Israeli troops pushed deeper into southern Lebanon. Israel has ordered the
expansion of its so-called buffer zone from the Litani River to areas north of
the Zahrani River, displacing about one-fifth of Lebanon’s population. Israel
continues to bomb bridges across the Litani, isolating the southern region of
Lebanon.
Since Israel launched its war against Hezbollah on March 2nd, more
than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, including at least 126 children.
This is Jamal Salim Farran, now homeless after Israeli strikes on
Tyre left his neighborhood in ruins.
JAMAL SALIM FARRAN: [translated] Someone
who can barely afford their daily bread, can’t even buy a loaf, and then a
plane comes and strikes. For what reason? Just because I’m sitting on my land?
I will not leave. This is our land, and we will not give it up.
AMY GOODMAN: Beirut was pounded with airstrikes Friday,
as Israel claimed it was targeting militant infrastructure.
For more, we go to Lebanon’s capital to speak with Ramzi Kaiss,
the Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Ramzi, you’re back from the south of Lebanon. Israel is expanding
its so-called buffer zone from the Litani River to the Zahrani River. Can you
talk about the significance and what you saw, and, overall, what’s happening in
Lebanon?
RAMZI KAISS: Thanks, Amy, and thanks for having me.
As you noted, it’s been over a month since the escalation between
Israel and Hezbollah, and so far there’s been over 1,460 people that have been
killed in Lebanon. This includes over a hundred and — now 130 children, after
yesterday’s attacks, 54 medical workers. And Israeli military has ordered
nearly 15% of Lebanon’s territory to be evacuated, through displacement orders
that they’ve issued as early March 4, to the area south of the Litani River,
and then expanded that on March 12, but they have repeatedly reissued those same
statements, essentially ordering people to be — to leave those areas.
And not only that, statements that have been issued by Israeli
military officials and government officials, such as the defense ministers,
have signaled an intent to commit more atrocities. You know, Israel Katz,
Israel’s minister of defense, has said that he and Netanyahu have ordered the
acceleration of destruction of homes along Lebanon’s border, that they have —
that they will be preventing hundreds of thousands of Shia residents from
returning to their homes south of the Litani River, and that they could
conduct, as well, strikes that could target civilians. This was mentioned in
displacement orders issued for the southern suburbs of Beirut between March 11
and 15.
More recently, bridges across the Litani River have been struck.
Most of the bridges have been struck. I was in the city of Sour, or Tyre, last
week, and residents, municipality officials, health workers and hospital
officials told us that, essentially, there’s one lifeline left into the city
and other areas south of the Litani that tens of thousands of people who remain
south of the Litani River, despite these displacement orders, depend on. They
depend on it for humanitarian supplies going into those areas, for medical
supplies, for supplies needed for hospitals.
And so, with this signaled intent to — by the Israeli military
officials, to occupy the area south of the Litani River to prevent people from
returning, we are seeing, you know, a humanitarian catastrophe unfold. And
should the last bridge, the Qasmiyeh Bridge, you know, be struck, as well,
we’re talking about tens of thousands of people being severed not only from the
rest of the country, but from access to supplies, humanitarian supplies, medical
supplies, that they need for their own survival.
AMY GOODMAN: And Israel’s claims that it’s targeting
militant infrastructure, that it is fighting Hezbollah?
RAMZI KAISS: So, the Israeli military has claimed that
it has bombed the bridges because they are being used by Hezbollah. But there
are also claims that they have, you know, been striking healthcare workers
because those vehicles are being used by Hezbollah.
I think what we’re seeing in this war, with particularly the large
number of civilians being killed, health workers and journalists, there are
many patterns that we’ve documented before. This is a war again that’s been
ongoing since October 2023, and over the past two-and-a-half years we’ve
documented repeated, apparently deliberate, attacks on civilians. This includes
journalists. It includes medical workers. It includes peacekeeping forces.
We’ve documented a previously widespread use of white phosphorus, including
unlawfully over populated residential areas, and the targeting of civilian
objects, such as financial institutions and others. And what we’re seeing now
is a, you know, what appears to be a continuation of that same pattern.
But what’s different, I think, this time around is that there’s a
new brazenness in the statements issued by the Israeli military, where they are
simply stating that they intend to commit more war crimes. They are stating
that we will be preventing people, hundreds of thousands of people, from
returning to their homes, that we will be destroying homes along the Lebanon
border in order to establish a buffer zone, that, you know, we will not
hesitate to strike anyone who is near Hezbollah facilities or equipment, which
is a different tone than, I think, from what we’ve seen in the last war, and,
you know, perhaps a reflection of just the state of impunity for any violations
that have been committed in Lebanon, as in Gaza, for the last two-and-a-half
years, with no accountability whatsoever for violations of the laws of war.
AMY GOODMAN: Human Rights Watch has also written that
Israel’s displacement of civilians in Lebanon is a possible war crime. Ramzi?
RAMZI KAISS: Indeed. And, you know, the statements that
have been issued by the Israeli military signal that the displacement of
civilians is not necessarily tied to their protection. They’ve specifically
singled out Shia residents from the south, you know, from the area south of
Litani, saying that they will prevent their return in order — until the
establishment — until the safety of Israel’s northern residents is guaranteed.
And under international humanitarian law, forced displacement is prohibited,
and people should be allowed to return to their homes as soon as the
hostilities cease or as soon as the conditions for their displacement cease to
exist. But what we’re seeing instead is that the return of people, and
particularly of Shia residents in southern Lebanon, is being tied to some
vague, undefined safety standard in northern Israel.
AMY GOODMAN: Ramzi Kaiss, I want to thank you so much
for being with us, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, speaking to us
from Beirut, just back from southern Lebanon. Thank you so much. We will link
to Human Rights Watch’s reports.
That does it for our show. Democracy Now! currently
accepting applications for development associate, support our fundraising
team. Go to democracynow.org.
And Democracy Now!, the film about it, as we celebrate
30 years, is opening at the IFC theater here in New York on Thursday. It’s
called Steal This Story, Please! I’ll be doing the Q&A
after the film with the film’s directors, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, on
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. It’s also opening at
the Jacob Burns theater and at Huntington, where I’ll be doing the Q&As
there on Sunday and Tuesday. And then we head to Los Angeles, to the Laemmle
Theatres in Glendale and North Hollywood and more, and to San Francisco at the
Roxie and beyond. Check our website at democracynow.org for all details — the
film, Steal This Story, Please! — and let your friends know.
That does it for the show. Democracy Now! is
produced with Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Messiah Rhodes, Nermeen Shaikh, María
Taracena, Nicole Salazar, Sara Nasser, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff. II’m Amy
Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.
Amy
Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a
national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on more than
1,100 public television and radio stations worldwide. Time Magazine named Democracy
Now! its “Pick of the Podcasts,” along with NBC’s “Meet
the Press.”
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
