A/HRC/3/2 page 33 114. The Commission was informed that IDF had attempted to enter Bent J’beil but had been repeatedly resisted by Hezbollah fighters;89 15 fighters and 27 civilians were killed, and another 100-120 people were injured. As in the case of Aita Ech Chaab, it would appear that the failed attempts of IDF led them to resort to the tactic of bombardment. Yet again, civilian property was targeted indiscriminately. 115. In several attacks on the village of Sreifa, about 30 kilometers east of Tyre, at least 25 civilians were killed and 26 others injured while 13 houses were destroyed. According to a report presented by the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee network against Israeli war crimes, after the first bombing on 13 July, which killed four members of a family, villagers began fleeing to neighbouring villages for safety. The IDF started shelling the area around the village from airplanes. The people followed the advice of the Sheikh of the village and sought shelter in the big houses with basements used to dry tobacco in Haret Najdi neighbourhood. Around 0330 hours on 19 July, at least three Israeli planes struck at least 13 homes in Haret Najdi neighbourhood, firing multiple munitions and causing the homes to collapse on their basements, which were packed with sheltering civilians.90 (b) South Beirut 116. The Commission visited the South East suburbs of Beirut, which were heavily bombed from the earliest days until the last days of the conflict. This largely Shiite district of high-rise buildings is densely populated and a busy commercial centre, with hundreds of small shops and businesses. It was also a centre for Hezbollah activities in the city, including offices of the political headquarters of the organization, and its associated infrastructure, including Jihad al Bina, offices of parliamentarians, and the TV station Al-Manar. During the course of the conflict, many displaced persons from the South had sought refuge in the relative safety of this neighbourhood. 117. The Commission members were shocked by the utter devastation of large sections of the area. Throughout the period of the conflict, nearly every day, IDF attacked and destroyed a handful of unoccupied multi-storey buildings. Nearly all of its 220,000 inhabitants have been forced to evacuate at the commencement of the hostilities. The presence of Hezbollah offices, political headquarters and supporters would not justify the targeting of civilians and civilian property as military objectives. 118. The Commission met with community officials and people and visited the various municipalities affected by the bombing of the South Beirut Dahiyeh area and the adjoining Chiyah district. 119. The devastation in Dahiyeh was extensive. The area had been subjected to very heavy aerial bombardment from apparently precision-guided bombs. Whole buildings of 10 or more floors had completely collapsed. The bomb craters witnessed by the Commission were enormous, indicating the use of very heavy ordnance. There were still unexploded bombs in some buildings. There was a pattern in the bombing and some buildings had been hit several times. 326 residential buildings were either damaged or destroyed in the southern suburbs.91

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