Since October 8, 2023, Lebanese territory has been subjected to massive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law by the Israeli army, which have resulted in more than 8,700 dead and about 30,000 injured according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Israeli forces repeatedly and deliberately target civilians, entire families, and protected professionals such as journalists and healthcare workers. These massacres are compounded by the illegal use of white phosphorus above residential areas and the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure. These operations resulted in the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians, which constitutes the war crime of illegal population transfer.
It was in this dramatic context that the June 26, 2026, In Washington, the signing of a trilateral framework agreement between Lebanon, Israel, and the United States. Faced with this diplomatic move, the association Jurists for Respect for International Law (JURDI) warns of the disastrous consequences of Article 13 of this agreement, which threatens to paralyze any search for justice for the victims of war crimes committed in Lebanon since October 8, 2023.
A direct threat to justice and international law
Under the guise of "good faith" and "stable relations," Article 13 commits the parties to cease all «"hostile or prejudicial action within international political or legal bodies"». For JURDI, this clause constitutes an unacceptable attempt to sacrifice international justice to illusory diplomatic imperatives, by paralyzing in advance the investigations and legal remedies of the Lebanese State and the victims.
Lebanon has a strict legal obligation, under the Geneva Conventions, to respect and enforce humanitarian law and to prosecute perpetrators of serious offences, including illegal population transfers and deliberate attacks against civilians and medical personnel.
An organized climate of impunity
JURDI disputes claims that this agreement protects victims' rights. This ambiguous clause poses a direct threat to:
• the UN mission: The work of the team from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), currently deployed in Lebanon to document crimes committed by Israel, could be classified as "hostile acts" and thus hindered.
• Access to justice: By refusing to ratify the Rome Statute or to file an ad hoc declaration of competence, the Lebanese government is depriving victims of access to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the only international body capable of addressing all the crimes committed.
JURDI's appeals
Faced with this risk of abandoning fundamental rights and weakening international law, JURDI calls for:
The Lebanese Government:
- to refrain from any commitment that could hinder the execution of its international obligations regarding the prevention, investigation and prosecution of serious violations of international humanitarian law and international crimes committed on its territory; ;
- to formally recognize the competence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with regard to crimes under its jurisdiction committed on Lebanese territory since October 8, 2023, by filing a declaration under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute ;
- to ratify the Rome Statute in order to permanently integrate Lebanon into the international criminal justice system.
In a press release dated April 19, 2026, JURDI had already expressed its support for the appeal launched on April 1, 2026 by 26 Lebanese and international civil society organizations calling for such recognition and ratification of the Rome Statute, essential to ending the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of international crimes committed in Lebanon.
All states, including EU member states:
- to implement the mechanisms of universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction allowing for the investigation of international crimes committed on Lebanese territory and, where appropriate, the prosecution of those presumed responsible; ;
- to promote the universality of Rome Statute and to use their diplomatic efforts to encourage the Lebanese state to join; ;
- to defend the independence and effective functioning of the CPI and to oppose any sanction, intimidation or pressure measures targeting the Court, its judges and staff because of the exercise of their duties. JURDI calls in particular on the EU to extend the scope of its blocking regulation to US sanctions targeting the Court and its agents.
Founded in 2024, JURY It brings together lawyers committed to the effective implementation of international law in response to violations committed in Israel and Palestine. The association intends to pursue its actions before all competent jurisdictions.
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