The Ibero-American Commission on Human Rights for the Development of the Americas (CIDHPDA), in the voice of the President Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean, Víctor Hugo Gutiérrez Yáñez, rejects the recent Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians and calls on the international community to work together to stop the war between these two countries as soon as possible. This Monday, September 23, Israel bombed southern Lebanon with dozens of planes, the deadliest day for the country since 2006, when the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah, allied with Hamas, which opened a front on the border with Israel almost a year ago, after the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, broke out.
The Israeli armed forces indicated that it had attacked that area because there were “thousands of launching pads” for rockets “ready to be used”. For its part, Hezbollah announced that it had fired dozens of rockets at military positions in northern Israel, according to statements by the Israeli army, there were about 90.
The attacks come a week after two waves of explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members, which between Tuesday and Wednesday left 39 dead and almost 3,000 wounded in the militia's strongholds in Lebanon. Hezbollah held Israel responsible for these attacks, which Israeli authorities denied, however, the Minister of Defense said after Wednesday's explosions that Israel was “opening a new phase of the war”.
The conflict in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Islamist fighters killed 1,205 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians. In response, the Israeli offensive has killed at least 41,391 Palestinians, according to data from the territory's Health Ministry, endorsed by the UN.
In the face of the bombardment of Lebanon, the United Nations has expressed its concern and called on “all parties to de-escalate immediately” and to “show maximum restraint”. The CIDHPDA joins this call and adds the urgent need for the international community to redouble its efforts to support the victims of the war and condemn all attacks on the lives of innocent people and their human rights.