{"id":35317,"date":"2026-07-29T04:04:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=35317"},"modified":"2026-07-29T04:04:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:04:37","slug":"u-n-human-rights-chief-says-israel-must-end-occupation-and-house-demolitions-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=35317","title":{"rendered":"U.N. human rights chief says Israel must end occupation and house demolitions in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Volker T\u00fcrk said some Israeli actions in Lebanon could amount to war crimes, echoing criticism from other human rights groups over the widespread destruction of towns and villages and the dozens of medical workers and journalists killed.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260727-Volker-Turk-ew-401p-9ec3f1.jpg\" alt=\"Volker Turk\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk speaks to the media at a news conference in Beirut on Monday.&nbsp;Hassan Ammar \/ APShare<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The United Nations\u2019 human rights chief said Monday that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/israel\/israeli-settlers-set-fire-west-bank-mosques-deadly-clash-rcna589389\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Israel must end its occupation<\/a>\u00a0of large areas of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/now\/video\/trump-gives-update-on-war-with-iran-during-meeting-with-lebanese-president-267031621697\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">southern Lebanon<\/a>\u00a0and halt the demolition of homes, days before Lebanese and Israeli officials are set to hold another round of direct talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Volker T\u00fcrk spoke to The Associated Press as he wrapped up a visit to Lebanon, his second in just over a year. He met with government officials, civil society representatives and Lebanese people displaced by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/video\/watch-live-trump-meets-with-president-of-lebanon-267026501686\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">war between Israel and the Hezbollah<\/a>&nbsp;militant group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visit came about a week before Lebanese and Israeli officials are to meet in Rome for talks on implementing a framework deal reached June 26. It laid out a plan for the deployment of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/middle-east\/lebanons-president-will-meet-trump-washington-push-israeli-troop-withd-rcna588486\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lebanese military forces<\/a>&nbsp;in areas in southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, alongside the disarmament of Hezbollah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hezbollah has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/house-democratic-leaders-split-us-aid-israel-public-opinion-shifts-rcna587681\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rejected the direct talks<\/a>&nbsp;and says it will not disarm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">T\u00fcrk said some Israeli actions in Lebanon could amount to war crimes, echoing criticism from other human rights groups over the widespread destruction of towns and villages and the dozens of medical workers and journalists killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDemolition of this type raises huge flags about compliance with international humanitarian law,\u201d T\u00fcrk said, describing what has happened as a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/lebanon\/hezbollah-rejects-us-brokered-israel-lebanon-security-deal-surrender-rcna352040\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cwholesale destruction\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;of civilian homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israel has said that its attacks target Hezbollah personnel and infrastructure. It accuses the group of hiding among civilians and says its troops in occupied parts of southern Lebanon have revealed weapons warehouses and tunnel networks belonging to the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest conflict started on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel after the U.S.-Israeli February attacks that set off the Iran war. Israel launched an aerial campaign and ground invasion in Lebanon,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/israel\/israel-lebanon-sign-framework-agreement-us-first-step-peace-rubio-says-rcna351973\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">killing more than 4,000 people<\/a>\u00a0and displacing 1.2 million others. The Israeli military still occupies dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">T\u00fcrk, who is based in Geneva, also met with a visiting team from his office investigating attacks in Lebanon during the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who met with T\u00fcrk on Monday, said Lebanon remains committed to the agreement, but warned that Israel\u2019s continued military presence and demolitions may&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/now\/video\/how-the-fighting-in-lebanon-became-a-key-sticking-point-in-iran-u-s-negotiations-265460805894\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cundermine its effectiveness.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lebanon \u201cwill not accept ongoing violations of its provisions,\u201d Aoun was quoted as saying during the meeting from his office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agreement controversially includes both sides withholding from pursuing any form of legal accountability, a move widely criticized in Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">T\u00fcrk, who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/israel\/shut-us-iran-talks-israel-impact-deadly-lebanon-strikes-rcna350682\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has also criticized Hezbollah<\/a>&nbsp;for its attacks on northern Israeli towns, called for an end to Israel\u2019s occupation in southern Lebanon and for displaced people to return safely to their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI met yesterday a man who told me that he returned to his village in this zone &#8230; south of this so-called yellow line,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Israelis were there; they prevented him from going anywhere close to it, and he saw how the village was demolished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">T\u00fcrk said he had contacted Israeli authorities, hoping to conduct a similar visit, but had received no reply. Israel was among 10 countries that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/iran\/us-iran-talks-postponed-vance-cancels-trip-israel-strikes-lebanon-rcna350830\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted against appointing T\u00fcrk<\/a>\u00a0to a second term, alongside the United States and Russia, at the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reference Link:- <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/lebanon\/un-human-rights-chief-says-israel-must-end-occupation-house-demolition-rcna589511\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/lebanon\/un-human-rights-chief-says-israel-must-end-occupation-house-demolition-rcna589511<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Volker T\u00fcrk said some Israeli actions in Lebanon could amount to war crimes, echoing criticism from other human rights groups over the widespread destruction of towns and villages and the dozens of medical workers and journalists killed. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk speaks to the media at a news conference in Beirut [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[23876,25547,13554,26287,1510,32608,29658,32609,26284,23750,1149,32542,32544],"class_list":["post-35317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-agression-2","tag-annexation","tag-human-right-violations-2","tag-invasion","tag-israel-2","tag-israel-surpassed-all-records-of-human-rights-violation","tag-occupation-2","tag-seig","tag-seige","tag-starvation-2","tag-un-2","tag-un-human-right-chief","tag-volker-turk-2","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35318,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35317\/revisions\/35318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}