The UN Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon: A Legal Appraisal

In the wake of the Second Lebanon conflict, the UN Human RightsCouncil established an independent body of experts to investigatealleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) perpetratedby Israeli forces. The Commission's report suffers from oneserious and conspicuous flaw — the Commission was notcharged with simultaneously considering Hezbollah's violationsof the same body of law. In some instances, this one-sided focuswas not only politically unbalanced, but substantively inadequatesince a full understanding of Hezbollah's command structure,strategic objectives and military operations was essential indetermining whether targets destroyed by Israel were legitimatemilitary objectives and whether consequences for civilians weredisproportionate to the military advantage gained. Be that asit may, the Commission's final report testified to the excessive,indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by Israeliforces and an overall lack of respect for the cardinal principlesregulating the conduct of armed conflict. The Commission's findingsare particularly disquieting, given the independent nature ofthe investigation and, ultimately, the compatibility of muchof the Commission's legal reasoning with orthodox interpretationsof IHL. The legal issues raised by the Inquiry are thereforeof ongoing importance, most notably for the Israeli-appointedWinograd Committee.