A/HRC/3/2 page 5 The Commission considers that it will take years for Lebanon, with the help of the international community, to be able to rebuild all the damaged buildings and other facilities. In the meantime, solutions must be found for the civilian population to see their human rights, in particular their right to adequate housing and to the highest attainable standard of health, respected. 21. Israel justified its attacks on the civilian infrastructure by arguing its hypothetical use by Hezbollah. The Commission appreciates that some infrastructure may have had “dual use” but this argument cannot be put forward for each individual object directly hit during this conflict. By using this argument, IDF effectively changed the status of all civilian objects by alleging that they might be used by Hezbollah. Further, the Commission is convinced that damage inflicted on some infrastructure was done for the sake of destruction. 22. From the first days of the armed conflict until early September 2006, Israel imposed a sea and air blockade on Lebanon which had an impact on the humanitarian situation, the civilian population, the environment, and on the economy as a whole. 23. The Commission considered the devastating effect the oil spill from the bombing of the Jiyyeh power plant has had and will continue to have in the years to come. The Commission is convinced that this attack was premeditated. The spill affected two thirds of Lebanon’s coastline. IDF’s failure to take the necessary precautionary measures violated Israel’s obligations to protect the natural environment and the right to health. In particular it caused significant damage to the Byblos archaeological site, included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. 24. None of the weapons known to have been used by IDF are illegal per se under international humanitarian law. However, the way in which the weapons were used in some cases transgresses the law. The Commission addressed more specifically the use of cluster munitions, 90 per cent of which were fired by IDF during the last 72 hours of the conflict. The Commission finds that their use was excessive and not justified by any reason of military necessity. The Commission finds that these weapons were used deliberately to turn large areas of fertile agricultural land into “no go” areas for the civilian population. Furthermore, in view of the foreseeable high dud rate, their use amounted to a de facto scattering of anti-personnel mines across wide tracts of Lebanese land. The presence of unexploded ordnance continues to act as a major impediment to the return of IDPs and refugees, as well as threatening the lives and livelihoods of those who have chosen to return. While the use of depleted uranium munitions could not be confirmed, the Commission received a number of reports regarding the use of phosphorous weapons. 25. The Commission considers that the excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the IDF goes beyond reasonable arguments of military necessity and of proportionality, and clearly failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets, thus constituting a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. The Commission has formed a clear view that, cumulatively, the deliberate and lethal attacks by the IDF on civilians and civilian objects amounted to collective punishment.