Lebanon-Israel deal may block war crime victims from seeking justice, experts warn

A new agreement between Lebanon and Israel could block victims of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon from pursuing accountability and hinder future efforts to give the international criminal court jurisdiction in the country, legal experts warned. Lebanon and Israel signed a 14-point framework agreement in Washington on Friday designed to work towards an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah . Article 13 of the deal said Israel and Lebanon will “cease all hostile or negative actions in international political or legal forums”, to establish good faith between the two sides. The text, which is broadly phrased, could prevent victims of Israeli war crimes committed during fighting since 8 October 2023 from seeking justice through international or national courts. Legal experts have understood this to mean that Lebanon would not be able to grant the ICC jurisdiction in the country – a move that advocates have pushed for in order to prosecute Israel and its leaders for alleged war crimes committed in Lebanon. “This will kill any hope of granting the ICC jurisdiction, even any hope of a UN fact finding mission,” said Farouk al-Moghrabi, a former advisor to the ministry of human rights who helped draft the law to give the ICC jurisdiction in Lebanon. He added that the law would kill internal efforts to investigate and document crimes. …