Beirut’s southern suburbs, known colloquially as Dahieh, have also been heavily targeted. That’s significant because this residential area was where the Israeli military first used the “Dahieh Doctrine” two decades ago.
Since then, the Israeli military has repeatedly and systemically applied the strategy, most notably with its genocide in Gaza from October 2023 onwards, where more than 72,000 people have been killed to date.
At the beginning of the current war, on 5 March, Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right minister of finance of Israel, said in a video posted to X, “very soon Dahieh will look like Khan Younis”, the devastated city in the south of the Gaza strip.
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The Dahieh Doctrine advocates the use of disproportionate force against civilians and civilian infrastructure in areas where armed groups are alleged to operate.
It seeks to inflict suffering on civilian populations in order to create popular discontent against the group that triggered the assault, be it Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in Gaza, and thus deter future attacks against Israel.
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“We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction. From our perspective, these are military bases. This isn't a suggestion. This is a plan that has already been authorized.”
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Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure are expressly prohibited as war crimes under the foundational treaties of international law.
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Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former minister of defence of Israel, face arrest warrants at the International Criminal Court over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
