Conflict Incident Report

On July 13, 2006: Multiple Israeli air strikes on villages in South Lebanon killed several dozen civilians, including entire families. Each of the reports indicates that there was no Hezbollah activity near any of the sites hit, nor were any of people hit members of the group: - In Zibqin, South Lebanon, 12 members of the same family were killed, and 2 others were wounded. - In Baflay, 10 civilians were killed, including a man, his wife, and their five children, aged 4 to 18, as well as two Kuwaitis and one Sri Lankan. They were all killed as the strike destroyed the two-storey house they were in. - In Srifa, a 34-year old man, his wife, and two children were killed. They were Brazilian/Lebanese nationals spending their summer holidays in Lebanon. - In al-Dweir, an Israeli air strike on the house of a cleric killed him, his wife, and 10 of their children (ages 2 months to 18 years old) as well as a Sri Lankan. The cleric was believed to be affiliated to Hezbollah, but had no military activity. - In Shhur, an Israeli missile attack on the home of a German-Lebanese national spending holidays in Lebanon killed him and five relatives (all civilians). The only survivor was his 12-year-old son, who was severely wounded and transferred to Germany after that. - In Barashit, two civilians were killed and three severely injured from the same family in an air strike that targeted a Hezbollah arms storage site, located in the basement of the neighboring house. According to HRW, “Hezbollah violated the humanitarian law prohibition to avoid locating military objectives in densely populated areas.”817 - In Shehabiyyeh, an Israeli air strike on the home of a Hezbollah official wounded three of his sons (20, 17, and 10 years old). HRW notes that “even if Israel was targeting a legitimate military target, Israel would be responsible for taking into account the likely civilian casualties of attacking him in his home.