Detailed new investigation into three Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns that killed eight civilians and injured at least 16 others 

In one attack, unguided 220mm Fadi-1 rockets hit a location four-and-a-half miles away from Hezbollah’s announced target

‘The use of these inherently-inaccurate weapons in or near populated civilian areas amounts to prima facie violations of international humanitarian law’ - Agnès Callamard 

Hezbollah‘s unguided rocket salvoes fired for months into populated civilian areas of northern Israel have violated international humanitarian law and should be investigated as likely war crimes, said Amnesty International in a new investigation today.

Although some of the areas struck by indiscriminate Hezbollah rocket fire had been largely evacuated of Israeli civilians, Amnesty has documented three Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns that killed eight civilians and injured at least 16 others following the escalation of the conflict in late September. 

Amnesty weapons experts verified a total of 13 videos and six photos related to these attacks, alongside extensive analysis of Hezbollah statements on the attacks posted to the organisation’s Telegram channel. 

On 29 October, at approximately 10:40am, Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets into northern Israel, killing Mohammed Naim, a 23-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel, when one of the rockets munitions hit his house in Tarshiha. Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs said 13 other people were injured in the attack. 

Yasser Naim, Mohammed’s father, told Amnesty that his son was taking his two younger siblings to a shelter inside their home when the rocket hit. Mohammed was only seconds from reaching the shelter when he was killed. Yasser said dozens of rockets were directed at the town, and that Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system had failed to intercept some of the incoming projectiles. 

Initially, Hezbollah announced on their Telegram channel that the target had been the village of Kfar Vradim. However, after news broke that a Palestinian citizen of Israel had been killed Hezbollah revised their announcement and published a video claiming they had targeted Israeli soldiers in Ma’alot-Tarshiha.

On 31 October, Hezbollah fired 18 salvoes of inaccurate rockets at towns on both sides of the border, including the cities of Karmiel and Acre in Israel, and the Haifa suburbs of Krayot, according to a statement posted on Telegram. The Israeli military said a total of 90 rockets from those attacks struck inside Israel. In two of the attacks, a total of seven civilians were killed. Hezbollah said the intended targets were Israeli military forces south of Khiam in Lebanon and the area of Krayot in Israel. 

The first attack hit an orchard in the Israeli town of Metula, rather than Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese side of the border some distance away in Khiam, and killed five civilians on a farm: Omer Weinstein, an Israeli man, and four Thai migrant workers, named as Akkapon Wannasai, Prayat Pilasram, Kaweesak Papanang and Thana Tichantuek. A sixth person was injured. In the second attack, Mina Shafiq Hassoun, 60, and her son Karmi Raja Hassoun, 30, a Palestinian citizens of Israel, were killed while picking olives in an orchard between Shefa-‘Amr and Kiryat Ata. Two others were injured.

Hezbollah published a video allegedly showing the weapons launch, saying the target was the civilian suburb of Krayot along the Israeli coast. The attack was carried out using unguided 220mm Fadi-1 rockets. The inherent inaccuracy of these rockets and unlawfulness of using them even against military targets in civilian areas is demonstrated by the fact that the location actually struck was some seven kilometres away from the announced target.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

“Hezbollah’s reckless use of unguided rocket salvos has killed and wounded civilians, and destroyed and damaged civilian homes in Israel.

“The use of these inherently-inaccurate weapons in or near populated civilian areas amounts to prima facie violations of international humanitarian law. 

“Civilians and civilian objects are not targets and must be protected. Direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects and indiscriminate attacks that kill and injure civilians must be investigated as war crimes.”

Analysis of video and other evidence

In the weeks before the 27 November Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, Hezbollah had announced they were firing rockets at cities and towns including Haifa, Tiberias, Acre, Safed, Karmiel, Kfar Giladi and the Krayot area, among others. In some cases Hezbollah insisted they were aiming at military targets, but in others that they were attacking the civilian city or town generally. In the videos it analysed, Amnesty identified unguided 122mm, 220mm, 240mm and 302mm multiple-launch rocket systems. Such rockets are inherently inaccurate, as it is impossible to aim them with any degree of confidence or to determine exactly where they will strike. Their use in areas with concentrations of civilians violates the bedrock principle of distinction under international humanitarian law. 

Impact on civilians

The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has significantly impacted civilians, particularly in Lebanon. Israeli attacks across Lebanon have killed an estimated 4,047 people including entire families, injured 16,000 more and displaced an estimated 1.2 million, including through the use of misleading and inadequate “evacuation” warnings. Amnesty has documented how in recent months Israeli forces carried out four unlawful airstrikes on residential buildings in southern Lebanon, in the Bekaa valley and northern Lebanon killing a total of 49 civilians, which must be investigated as war crimes. Israel has also targeted branches of Qard al-Hassan, a financial institution affiliated with Hezbollah, with more than 30 branches across the country in densely-packed residential districts in violation of international humanitarian law, given this institution is not a legitimate military target.

Hezbollah attacks in Israel have killed more than 100 people, and an estimated 63,000 residents in northern Israel have been displaced. Hezbollah has fired thousands of inherently-inaccurate rockets into Israel and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Military research institutes have estimated that more than 95% of the approximately 100,000 to 200,000 long-range weapons in Hezbollah’s arsenal are unguided.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Amnesty recently released a major report that concluded Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. Amnesty has also found evidence of war crimes by Israeli forces, including direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks, as well as other unlawful attacks and collective punishment of the civilian population in Gaza.