Since March 2, 2026, over one million people in Lebanon—nearly 20% of the population—have been forced from their homes as Israel intensified its military campaign. This surge in displacement has struck a country already burdened with the world’s highest per capita refugee population.

On March 16, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz declared that Shia residents living south of the Litani River would not be allowed to return until Israel’s unspecified security conditions are met. Just days later, Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an accelerated demolition of homes in Lebanon’s border villages, explicitly drawing parallels to previous operations in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun and Rafah neighborhoods.

This deliberate targeting of Shia communities and barring their return without a clear end date meets the criteria for forced displacement, a war crime under international humanitarian law. Human Rights Watch highlighted that these tactics mirror those used in Gaza, where nearly two million residents were displaced, and in the West Bank, where 32,000 Palestinians were removed from refugee camps during Operation Iron Wall in early 2025, with no permission to return.

The weapons fueling these operations come from Israel’s allies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Their ongoing arms supplies have raised concerns about their potential complicity in these continuing war crimes.