While Laughing and joking about their action, Israeli soldiers continue destroying mosques

International law, treaties and conventions prohibit using cultural property for military purposes, the destruction thereof. In armed conflict, rules call for special to be taken in military operations to avoid damage to buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, education or charitable purposes and historic monuments.

It has been reported that Israel has destroyed 79% of mosques, 3 churches in Gaza from October (2023) to June (2024); including 814 mosques flattened, 148 mosques damaged, 3 churches were also destroyed, and 19 of 60 cemeteries deliberately targeted. Now the same pattern is carried out in Lebanon.

Aljazeera broadcasted scenes showing Israeli soldiers filming videos of the bombing of a mosque in a village in southern Lebanon bordering Israel.

The scenes show the soldiers counting from 6 to 1, then blowing up the entire mosque, as thick smoke was seen rising from it as a result of the Israeli bombing.

The soldiers said after blowing up the mosque, "It is a complete and clean thing." They added, while laughing and singing songs, "And you will remove the rule of the vile from the country, so the good people will rejoice, the righteous will rejoice, and the supporters of the Lord will dance with joy."

One of the soldiers repeated, "And all evil will burn like smoke... Look what this is... The people of Israel are alive, Amen."

The occupation forces published videos showing the booby-trapping and bombing of specific buildings, such as the bombing of the mosque in the town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district and the mosque in the town of Al-Dahra in southern Lebanon.

In the policy of extermination and destruction that it follows in Gaza, video clips over the course of a full year of war showed Israeli occupation soldiers documenting their bombing of homes, mosques, and schools in the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera broadcast exclusive footage captured by Israeli soldiers' cameras and drones, showing violations against mosques in Gaza.

Laws, Treaties, and Court rulings related to attacks on Religious and Cultural sites:

I. Treaties

Hague Regulations (1899)

Article 27 of the 1899 Hague Regulations provides:

In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps should be taken to spare as far as possible edifices devoted to religion, art, science, and charity … provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes.

It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs, which shall be notified to the enemy beforehand.

Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, annexed to Convention (II) with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 29 July 1899, Article 27.

Hague Regulations (1907)

Article 27 of the 1907 Hague Regulations provides:

In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments … provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes.

It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs, which shall be notified to the enemy beforehand.

Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, annexed to Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907, Article 27.

Hague Convention (IX)

Article 5 of the 1907 Hague Convention (IX) provides:

In bombardments by naval forces all the necessary measures must be taken by the commander to spare as far as possible sacred edifices, buildings used for artistic, scientific or charitable purposes, … on the understanding that they are not used at the same time for military purposes.

It is the duty of the inhabitants to indicate such monuments, edifices or places by visible signs, which shall consist of large, stiff rectangular panels divided diagonally into two coloured triangular portions, the upper portion black, the lower portion white.

Hague Convention (IX) concerning Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War, The Hague, 18 October 1907, Article 5.

Roerich Pact

Article 1 of the 1935 Roerich Pact provides:

The historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions shall be considered as neutral and as such respected and protected by belligerents …

The same respect and protection shall be accorded to the historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions in time of peace as well as in war.

Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments (Roerich Pact), Washington, D.C., 15 April 1935, Article 1.

Roerich Pact

Article 5 of the 1935 Roerich Pact provides:

The monuments and institutions mentioned in Article 1 [historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions] shall cease to enjoy the privileges recognized in the present Treaty in case they are made use of for military purposes.

Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments (Roerich Pact), Washington, D.C., 15 April 1935, Article 5.

Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 1 of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property defines cultural property, for the purposes of the Convention, irrespective of origin or ownership, as:

(a) movable or immovable property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people, such as monuments of architecture, art or history, whether religious or secular; archaeological sites; groups of buildings which, as a whole, are of historical or artistic interest; works of art; manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest; as well as scientific collections and important collections of books or archives or of reproductions of the property defined above;

(b) buildings whose main and effective purpose is to preserve or exhibit the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (a) such as museums, large libraries and depositories of archives, and refuges intended to shelter, in the event of armed conflict, the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (a);

(c) centres containing a large amount of cultural property as defined in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), to be known as “centres containing monuments”.

Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 14 May 1954, Article 1.

Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property provides:

1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect cultural property situated within their own territory as well as within the territory of other High Contracting Parties … by refraining from any act of hostility directed against such property.

2. The obligations mentioned in paragraph 1 of the present Article may be waived only in cases where military necessity imperatively requires such a waiver.

Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 14 May 1954, Article 4.

Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 19(1) of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property provides:

In the event of an armed conflict not of an international character occurring within the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the provisions of the present Convention which relate to respect for cultural property.

Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 14 May 1954, Article 19(1).

Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 28 of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property provides:

The High Contracting Parties undertake to take, within the framework of their ordinary criminal jurisdiction, all necessary steps to prosecute and impose penal or disciplinary sanctions upon those persons, of whatever nationality, who commit or order to be committed a breach of the present Convention.

Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 14 May 1954, Article 28.

Additional Protocol I

Article 53 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides:

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 14 May 1954, and of other relevant international instruments, it is prohibited:

a.to commit any acts of hostility directed against the historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), Geneva, 8 June 1977, Article 53. Article 53 was adopted by consensus. CDDH, Official Records, Vol. VI, CDDH/SR.42, 27 May 1977, p. 206.

Additional Protocol I

Article 85(4)(d) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I considers the following a grave breach of the Protocol:

making the clearly-recognized historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples and to which special protection has been given by special arrangement, for example, within the framework of a competent international organization, the object of attack, causing as a result extensive destruction thereof, where there is no evidence of the violation by the adverse Party of Article 53, sub-paragraph b), and when such historic monuments, works of art and places of worship are not located in the immediate proximity of military objectives.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), Geneva, 8 June 1977, Article 85(4)(d). Article 85 was adopted by consensus. CDDH, Official Records, Vol. VI, CDDH/SR.44, 30 May 1977, p. 291.

Additional Protocol II

Article 16 of the 1977 Additional Protocol II provides:

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 14 May 1954, it is prohibited to commit any acts of hostility directed against historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples, and to use them in support of the military effort.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), Geneva, 8 June 1977, Article 16. Article 16 was adopted by 35 votes in favour, 15 against and 32 abstentions. CDDH, Official Records, Vol. VII, CDDH/SR.53, 6 June 1977, p. 143.

ICC Statute

Pursuant to Article 8(2)(b)(ix) and (e)(iv) of the 1998 ICC Statute, “[i]ntentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, [or] historic monuments … provided they are not military objectives” constitutes a war crime in both international and non-international armed conflicts.

Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted by the UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, Rome, 17 July 1998, UN Doc. A/CONF.183/9, Article 8(2)(b)(ix) and (e)(iv).

Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 1(b) of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property states that the term “cultural property” means “cultural property as defined in Article 1 of the [1954 Hague] Convention”.

Second Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 26 March 1999, Article 1(b).

Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 6 of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property provides:

With the goal of ensuring respect for cultural property in accordance with Article 4 of the [1954 Hague] Convention:

(a) a waiver on the basis of imperative military necessity pursuant to Article 4 paragraph 2 of the Convention may only be invoked to direct an act of hostility against cultural property when and for as long as:

(i) that cultural property has, by its function, been made into a military objective; and

(ii) there is no feasible alternative available to obtain a similar military advantage to that offered by directing an act of hostility against that objective;

…

(c) the decision to invoke imperative military necessity shall only be taken by an officer commanding a force the equivalent of a battalion in size or larger, or a force smaller in size where circumstances do not permit otherwise;

(d) in case of an attack based on a decision taken in accordance with sub-paragraph (a), an effective advance warning shall be given whenever circumstances permit.

Second Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 26 March 1999, Article 6.

Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 7 of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property provides:

Without prejudice to other precautions required by international humanitarian law in the conduct of military operations, each Party to the conflict shall:

(a) do everything feasible to verify that the objectives to be attacked are not cultural property protected under Article 4 of the Convention;

(b) take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of attack with a view to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental damage to cultural property protected under Article 4 of the Convention;

(c) refrain from deciding to launch any attack which may be expected to cause incidental damage to cultural property protected under Article 4 of the Convention which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated; and

(d) cancel or suspend an attack if it becomes apparent:

(i) that the objective is cultural property protected under Article 4 of the Convention;

(ii) that the attack may be expected to cause incidental damage to cultural property protected under Article 4 of the Convention which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

Second Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 26 March 1999, Article 7.

Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 15 of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property provides:

1.Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Protocol if that person intentionally and in violation of the Convention or this Protocol commits any of the following acts:

…

(c) extensive destruction or appropriation of cultural property protected under the Convention and this Protocol;

(d) making cultural property protected under the Convention and this Protocol the object of attack.

(2) Each Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to establish as criminal offences under its domestic law the offences set forth in this Article and to make such offences punishable by appropriate penalties.

Second Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 26 March 1999, Article 15.

Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property

Article 22(1) of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property states: “This Protocol shall apply in the event of an armed conflict not of an international character, occurring within the territory of one of the Parties.”

Second Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 26 March 1999, Article 22(1).