Amnesty International says Lebanon framework agreement ‘betrays victims of war crimes’

The framework agreement reached last week between Israel, Lebanon, and the US — which calls for the Hezbollah terror group to be disarmed, and for Israel to subsequently withdraw its troops from the country — “threatens to betray war crimes victims in Lebanon,” says Amnesty International.

The international human rights group, together with five other NGOs, takes issue with the agreement‘s clause committing Israel and Lebanon to cease “all hostile or adverse actions in international political or legal fora.”

Amnesty notes that this could preclude actions in the International Court of Justice or International Criminal Court. The NGO also notes: “The agreement does not appear to commit Israel to halt any initiatives in international forums against Hezbollah.”

The rights groups also take issue with a clause conditioning the return of southern Lebanon residents to their locales on Hezbollah’s prior disarmament. “Under international humanitarian law, people must be allowed to return once hostilities have ended or the reasons for their displacement cease to exist,” they argue.

Israel is currently maintaining a “security zone” in southern Lebanon, from which residents have been ordered to evacuate, and where troops are dismantling the terror group’s infrastructure, which was used for attacks on Israel.