Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, Druze, Alawites, Syrian and Palestinian refugees who live in Lebanon are all being affected. Crime Minister Netanyahu acts as if he lives by the law of the jungle. Why is that not making news?

There are currently 250,000 Palestinians living in Lebanon, mostly in 12 refugee camps run by UNRWA since 1948. Lebanon is also home to around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, many of whom are now being forced to flee again.

The IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) is now bombing many residential buildings in Lebanon without warning the civilian population. Just like in Gaza, whenever Israel gets hammered by Hamas on the ground, they bomb civilians from the sky.

As a Lebanese political commentator said, "Israel is telling Lebanese civilians to evacuate their buildings in Beirut in the middle of the night when they are sleeping, and then bombing them 10 minutes later.

Then they say, 'We warned civilians.'" Fearing to face resistance fighters on the ground in Palestine and Lebanon, the IOF is resorting to what they do best—bombing from the sky and deploying targeted assassinations against Lebanese and Palestinians.

Keep in mind that extrajudicial assassinations are a violation of the Geneva Convention, which Israel ratified in 1951. Israel is currently involved in committing targeted killings in Lebanon and Palestine, acting as judge, jury, and prosecutor. The IOF continues to implement this tactic as a matter of policy, often murdering and injuring scores of innocent bystanders.

To ensure compliance with international law, the Israeli government should conduct investigations of targeted killings where there is credible evidence of wrongdoing, provide compensation to all victims of unlawful attacks, and discipline or prosecute those responsible for illegal strikes. However, you cannot expect this from a repeat offender, and I am not holding my breath!

Here is a list of the Israeli-targeted assassinations in Lebanon:

• On August 9, 2024, an Israeli drone struck outside Ain El-Helwi refugee camp near Saida, Lebanon, killing the driver Mahmoud Al-Hajj (Abu Mahmoud). His late father happened to be my childhood friend, but I never met his son, Samer.
• On August 21, 2024, Khalil al-Makdah (Abu Hussein) was killed in a drone attack in Sidon, 40 kilometers south of Beirut. A passerby was also killed. Khalil was a dear friend of my late brother Samih.
• On September 30, 2024, Fatah Sharif (Abu al-Amin) was killed in an airstrike on the al-Bass refugee camp in Tyre, along with his wife, son, and daughter. He had been the principal of the UNRWA-run Deir Yassin Secondary School in al-Bass.
• In mid-September 2024, the IOF confirmed an airstrike that hit the home of Hassan Makdah (Abu Munir), killing him, his wife Nazmieh, and critically injuring their two daughters. Hassan lived in Ain El-Helwi camp, about 700 feet from where I grew up. He was the son of senior Fatah official Munir Makdah (Abu Hassan).
• On October 2, 2024, the IOF bombed a displacement shelter in the Christian town of Ain Ebel, South Lebanon. The bombing killed 50 people and injured 70 more, including a Christian family and 19-year-old Palestinian Malak Murdaa, along with her entire family. Malak, from Ain El-Helwi refugee camp, had taken shelter in Ain Ebel for safety.
• On October 5, 2024, Saeed Attallah Ali, his wife, and their two daughters were killed in an Israeli strike on their house in the Beddawi refugee camp near Tripoli.
• On October 5, 2024, BBC reported an Israeli air strike on Syrian refugees fleeing Lebanon at the main border crossing. The IOF said it had targeted Hezbollah near the Masnaa crossing, but the strike left two huge craters, cutting off vehicle access. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is on Israel to show the people it murdered were guilty of committing crimes, regardless of their affiliations.

It seems the IOF is engaged in targeted assassination and bombing runs in Lebanon and occupied Palestine. In America, we believe in the rule of law and the presumption of innocence. Yet, Crime Minister Netanyahu acts as if he lives by the law of the jungle—and he's doing it with our tax dollars.

That begs the question: Why are Trump and VP Harris not tweeting about this wave of Israeli aggression and targeted killings? Why are they doing nothing to help the Palestinians and Lebanese, whose land has been stolen and whose women and children are being systematically slaughtered by the same homicidal Crime Minister that both presidential candidates and the U.S. Congress keep backing?

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelancer for Islamicity.com and ColumbusFreePress.com. He can be reached at [email protected].