Human rights group Amnesty International warned on Wednesday that the Israeli army's mass displacement orders in Lebanon amount to war crimes under international law.
"In parts of southern Lebanon, the Israeli military's forced displacement of civilians and prevention of their return amounts to unlawful transfer, which is a war crime," the group said in a statement outlining findings from its investigation into Israeli military orders.
It said the Israeli army has "radically" expanded its use of such orders, displacing hundreds of thousands of people across Lebanon.
Tel Aviv has broadened its "don't come back" directives, indefinitely barring residents of southern Lebanon from returning to villages inside Israel's self-declared buffer zone, which covers about 6% of the country.
"Instead of forcibly uprooting communities and designating entire swathes of Lebanese land as no-go zones for civilians, Israeli forces must immediately withdraw from Lebanese territory," said Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the statement, the Israeli military declared about 4.6% of Lebanon a no-go zone on Nov. 28, 2024, a day after a previous ceasefire took effect.
It added that in 2026, just three days after an April 17 ceasefire announcement, the restricted area was expanded to around 6% of the country, designated a "Forward Defence" zone, with residents ordered not to return to multiple villages that were previously home to tens of thousands of civilians.
Lebanese officials say Israel has been carrying out an offensive on Lebanon since March 2, killing more than 3,820 people, injuring over 11,850 others and displacing over 1 million.
Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the previous war between 2023 and 2024. During the current offensive, Israeli forces have advanced more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into Lebanese territory.
