DAWN Statement on the Israeli Attack on Lebanon

In response to the Israeli attack on Lebanon, which followed a devastating rocket attack that killed 12 children in the occupied Golan Heights town of Majd al-Shams on July 27, 2024, DAWN issued the following statement:  

"In the days after October 7, President Biden had a message for Hezbollah: 'Don't.' Now it's time for Biden to send the same message to Israel: Don't launch a new war in Lebanon, don't keep evading a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, don't assume American support if you start a regional war," said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's Executive Director. "The U.S. government should be doing everything it can to stop the escalation of the conflict, and the only way to accomplish that is to exert enough pressure on Israel to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza."

"Having failed to stop Israel's slow-motion genocide in Gaza, the U.S. and the rest of the world cannot allow Israel to exploit the killing of a dozen children to launch another war against the entire country of Lebanon," said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, DAWN's director of research for Israel-Palestine. "The best way to ensure a regional war does not erupt is for the UN Security Council to pass a binding ceasefire directive in Gaza immediately."

"The Israeli attack on Beirut is exactly what we've warned for months: Israel's strategy is to escape forward by expanding the war to the entire region," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's Advocacy Director. "The U.S. should end its shameful blank check policy in supporting Israel's genocide and aggression around the region."