More than a million people have been driven from their homes by Israeli attacks in Lebanon — nearly one-fifth of the country — which already hosts the world’s highest number of refugees per capita. For two years Human Rights Watch has documented Israeli displacement tactics in the occupied Palestinian territories that forced entire refugee camps and neighborhoods to flee, often under immediate threat from air strikes or ground operations.
Those same patterns are now apparent in Lebanon. Israeli evacuation orders have covered large swaths of the predominantly Shia south and Beirut’s southern suburbs — roughly 15 percent of Lebanese territory. Many have taken refuge with relatives, in state-run shelters, or in makeshift camps along Beirut’s coastline, which has itself been struck by Israeli attacks.
Under international humanitarian law, civilians may be moved from their homes only for imperative military reasons or to protect the population, and any evacuation must be temporary and allow return once hostilities end. Armed conflict does not give license to expel people from their land permanently.
In Gaza, Israeli operations forcibly displaced virtually all of its two million residents through an eviction system that pushed civilians into ever smaller, more dangerous enclaves. In the occupied West Bank, Operation Iron Wall in early 2025 led to the displacement of about 32,000 Palestinians from three refugee camps — the largest such displacement since 1967 — and those people have been barred from returning amid demolitions. Human Rights Watch has also documented forced displacement, home seizures, demolitions, and restrictions on return in southern Syria where Israel holds territory.
Israeli authorities say their strikes target militants and military infrastructure, but that does not justify mass civilian displacement. Evacuation must be a last resort; in Gaza and the West Bank the authorities did not demonstrate they had considered alternatives or that displacements would be temporary. HRW concluded that actions in those areas reflected an intent to cause massive, deliberate, long-term forced displacement of Palestinians, conduct amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Senior Israeli officials have publicly advocated expelling and preventing the return of Palestinians from parts of Gaza and the West Bank.
Similar warning signs now appear in Lebanon. UN experts have cautioned about the risk. On March 16, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Shiite residents who evacuated would not be allowed to return south of the Litani until the safety of Israel’s northern communities was guaranteed. Taken together, such statements and policies risk converting supposed temporary evacuations into permanent, sectarian displacement.
States with leverage over Israel should act to halt atrocities: impose targeted sanctions, suspend arms transfers, ban trade linked to illegal settlements, pause preferential trade agreements, and support the International Criminal Court and its investigations, including enforcing arrest warrants. Accountability for violations in Gaza and the West Bank must be enforced, not allowed to lapse. Without sustained international pressure and credible prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Israeli authorities may be emboldened to extend forced displacement and permanent denial of return across the region.
Governments should urgently move to prevent forced displacement in Lebanon, guarantee the right of return for those uprooted, and stop further attacks on Lebanese civilians.
The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.