Israel is destroying water and sanitation infrastructure in Lebanon, echoing a genocidal tactic it used in Gaza as part of its attempt to destroy the civilian population, Oxfam has said.​

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has attacked reservoirs, pipe networks and pumping stations since escalating its aggression against the country on 2 March.

“In a span of four days in the first weeks of the latest escalation, Israel damaged at least seven critical water sources… that supplied water to almost 7,000 people in the Bekaa area alone,” the charity said in a statement.

“The destruction of civilian infrastructure has not been limited to critical water facilities,” Oxfam added. “Israel has also destroyed electricity networks and bridges, cutting off vital supplies and services for entire towns and villages.”

Depriving civilians of water has been a key part of Israel’s strategy in Gaza.

In October 2023, then-energy minister Israel Katz wrote on social media that no “electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter” the enclave.

​British prime minister Keir Starmer supported this strategy, despite it being a war crime, telling LBC at the time that Israel had the “right” to cut off water and electricity from the population of Gaza.

Israel has killed over 1,000 people and forced more than a million to flee their homes in Lebanon this month.​

Katz, who is now the Israeli defence minister, said this week that the IDF would control a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon, which critics interpreted as confirmation that Israel has illegally annexed that land.

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