Amnesty International stated on Tuesday that the extensive destruction of civilian property by the Israeli army in Southern Lebanon including actions taken after a ceasefire with Hezbollah should be investigated as a war crime.

The ceasefire established on November 27 marked the end of over a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah which culminated in two months of intense warfare involving ground troop deployments and a significant bombing campaign by Israel.

“The Israeli military extensive and deliberate destruction of civilian property and agricultural land across southern Lebanon must be investigated as a war crimes”, said a representative from Amnestu International Erika Guevara Rosas.

She noted that the destruction has rendered entire areas uninhabitable and devastate countless lives.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued its military actions, asserting that its operations target Hezbollah sites and operatives. Under the truce, Hezbollah was expected to withdraw its fighters from border area allowing the Lebanese army to deploy and dismantle the militant group’s infrastructure.

However, Israel has maintained a presence in several strategically important border regions.

Amnesty International reported that it reached out to Israeli authorities in late June regarding the destruction but received no response.

Their analysis, which covered the period from October 1 2024 to late January 2025, found that over 10,000 structures were heavily damaged or destroyed with much of the destruction occurring after the ceasefire took effect.

The organisation detailed has Israeli forces employed manually laid explosives and bulldozers to devastate civilian structures, including homes, mosques, cemeteries, roads, parks and soccer pitches across 24 municipalities.

Verified videos, photographs and satellite imagery were utilised in their investigation, revealing soldiers celebrating the destruction.

Amnesty emphasised that much of the damage was carried out in apparent violation of international humanitarian law, highlighting that previous use of a civilian building by a conflict party does not automatically classify it as a military target.

In March, the World Bank estimated the total economic cost of the war to Lebanon at $14billion, including $6.8billion in damage to physical infrastructure.

Authorities in Lebanon, facing financial constraints have yet to initiate reconstruction efforts and are seeking international support particularly from Gulf nations.