Israel rejected a call by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, saying it would only end the seven-week-old siege once all aspects of a cease-fire were in place.
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The UN’s humanitarian chief accused Israel of “completely immoral” use of cluster bombs in Lebanon. UN clearance experts have so far found 100,000 unexploded cluster bomblets at 359 separate sites, Jan Egeland said.
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UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said it was time for Israel to lift a “humiliating” blockade on Lebanon.
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Lebanese are split over United Nations demands for the disarmament of Hezbollah following the month-long war between Israel and the Shiite militant group, a poll found Monday.
The poll conducted by a local company called IPSOS found 51 per cent of Lebanese supported the group’s disarmament, while 49 per cent are against it.
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The U.S. State Department has begun investigating Israel’s use of U.S.-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon.
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France agreed to send 2,000 soldiers to keep the peace in Lebanon.
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A report by the human rights organization Amnesty International accused Israel of deliberately attacking civilian targets during the recent conflict in Lebanon, the UN reported that Israel dropped cluster bombs on at least 170 villages and other places in south Lebanon, many of which have yet to explode, the UN Development Agency is reporting that Lebanon’s 15-year economic and social recovery from civil war has been wiped out over the past month, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Israel of breaking the 10-day-old ceasefire, and France demanded that Israel lift its blockade on Lebanon.
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Helicopter-borne Israeli commandos landed near the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek on Saturday and engaged in a lengthy firefight in what the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, called a “flagrant violation” of the cease-fire brokered by the United Nations.
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The Israeli government abducted two more members of the Palestinian Parliament.
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Hundreds of Israeli Army reservists have signed a petition criticizing the military’s top brass for failing to clearly define the goals of the war. The reservists wrote
“The heavy feeling is that in the echelons above us there is nothing but under-preparation, insincerity, lack of foresight and inability to make rational decisions. It leads to the question: were we called up for nothing?”
Many critics of Olmert are calling for the establishment of a state commission to investigate the government’s handling of the war.
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Israeli forces will complete their pullout from southern Lebanon within 10 days, giving way to U.N. and Lebanese forces, Israel’s army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said Tuesday.
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President Bush said Monday that Israel defeated Hezbollah. Syria and Iran praised Hezbollah for what both describe as the group’s defeat of Israel.
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The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned Israel for violating human rights and international humanitarian law in its military operations in Lebanon.
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Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Monday that his guerrillas achieved a “strategic, historic victory” against Israel — a declaration that prompted celebratory gunfire across the Lebanese capital.
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Thousands of civilians forced from their homes by 34 days of fighting poured back into war-ravaged southern Lebanon Monday, hoping that the cease-fire would hold. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that Israel would continue to go after Hezbollah.
“We will continue to pursue them everywhere and at all times,” he said in a speech to the Knesset. “We have no intention of asking anyone’s permission.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he took sole responsibility for the offensive, and acknowledged “deficiencies” in the way the war was conducted.
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The Bush administration is probably going send Israel a rush supply of missiles, and then tell them to be careful.
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More than a hundred-thousand people demonstrated outside the White House to protest Israel’s US-backed military operations in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. According to the anti-war group ANSWER, which organized the event along with the Muslim American Society and the National Council of Arab Americans, more than 300,000 people participated. President George W. Bush was on vacation at his Texas ranch.
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The New Yorker reported that the US government was closely involved in planning Israel’s military operations against Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia even before the July 12 kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s cabinet on Sunday approved a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities with Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, a political source said. In the meantime, Israel tried to inflict as much damage as possible.
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