Report: Israeli military installations near Arab villages harmed civilians

On the Israeli side, 44 Israeli civilians were killed and 4,262 were injured. The high number of casualties and injuries raised concerns that both the Israelis and the Lebanese had failed to respect international humanitarian law during the war. A fundamental principle of international humanitarian law is that civilians must be afforded maximum protection. Concern was voiced that the violation of international humanitarian law may explain the particularly high number of civilian fatalities and injuries.

During and after the war, international organizations such as the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International undertook detailed investigations regarding the extent to which each of the parties to the conflict observed the provisions and rules of international humanitarian law, particularly those intended to provide protection for civilians. These investigations focused on a number of claims. One claim was that Hizballah fired rockets at northern Israel without distinguishing between civilian and military targets. The second claim was that Israel attacked southern Lebanon, through aerial sorties and intensive artillery fire, again without distinguishing between civilians and combatants

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