UN relief chief accuses Israel of violating humanitarian law

[Spring Onion]

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UN relief chief accuses Israel of violating humanitarian law



BEIRUT (AFP) - UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland has condemned Israel for "a violation of humanitarian law" as he toured ruins in Beirut left by devastating Israeli air raids on residential areas.


"This is destruction of block after block of mainly residential areas. I would say it seems to be an excessive use of force in an area with so many citizens," he told reporters Sunday.

Asked if this Israeli raid that destroyed the buildings was a war crime he replied: "It makes it a violation of humanitarian law"
Egeland, who arrived in Beirut earlier Sunday, was touring areas devastated by Israeli bombardment in the capital's southern suburbs, visit schools for the displaced and meet Lebanese officials including Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
On Monday, Egeland is due to launch an appeal for millions of dollars in humanitarian aid after relentless Israeli bombardment destroyed much of Lebanon's infrastructure and forced more than half a million civilians to flee their homes.

The United Nations has warned that Lebanon was caught in a "catastrophic" humanitarian situation, with 500,000 people displaced by the Israeli attacks.

Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Nayla Moawad has accused Israel of "waging war to inflict famine in Lebanon. It is a disastrous situation."
Finance Minister Jihad Azour said Israel's offensive has inflicted damage estimated at several billion dollars, dealing a heavy blow to the economy.

 

[Neo]

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia knock OIC over Israeli aggression

ISLAMABAD: July 23, 2006

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Sunday have expressed deep concern over the Middle East situation and urged the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to take immediate notice of Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

The concern was shared when President General Pervez Musharraf telephoned Saudi King Abdullah here. The two leaders discussed the crises resulting from the flagrant Israeli aggression against Lebanon.

They urged the OIC to take initiative for effective international action for immediate cease-fire in Lebanon and to end Israeli aggression into Lebanese territories.

Earlier, President Mahmouud Ahmadinejad of Iran spoke to President Musharraf and discussed the grave situation in Lebanon. The two leaders exchanged views on the role, the OIC could play to help people of Lebanon.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had also telephonic conversation with Prime Minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora who informed him about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in his country.

He assured his Lebanese counterpart that Pakistan would be dispatching relief supplies as soon as the corridor for relief assistance is opened.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam said, "In our continuing contacts with the leadership of the Muslim world, the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also spoke to Secretary General of OIC Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu."

She said, yesterday, the prime minister had telephonic conversations with his Malaysian and Turkish counterparts on the Lebanon crisis.

 

[Neo]

EU diplomats in Israel in push to stop fighting

JERUSALEM : July 23, 2006

Top diplomats from France, Germany and Britain converged on Israel on Sunday ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as world powers moved to try to end the Lebanon conflict.

The Europeans are trying to push the Jewish state into ending its massive blitz on Lebanon, which has killed more than 360 people in 12 days, most of them civilians, and destroyed key infrastructure.

Washington, Israel's closest ally, backs the Jewish state's arguments that a cease-fire can come only as part of a wider diplomatic package involving the disarmament of the Lebanese group Hizbullah.

"I am convinced that a cease-fire is possible," French Foreign Minister Phillipe Douste-Blazy told reporters in the northern city of Haifa, where two people were killed on Sunday in the latest rocket fire from Hizbullah.

Douste-Blazy met with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank and was due to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later Sunday.

Israel has rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire in its offensive which it says targets Hizbullah but which has also seen its military destroy much of Lebanon's civilian infrastructure.

"We are using our right to self-defence in the face of a murderous organisation that has fired rockets... in order to harm our civilians," Olmert told reporters before meeting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. "We will use all our force in our fight."

A German official with the delegation was optimistic after Olmert's meeting with Berlin's top diplomat, who played a leading role in a German-brokered prisoner swap between Hizbullah and Israel in 2004.

"In a few days, we will be in a situation that will allow us to take the road of peace," he said, without elaborating.

On Sunday, Israel said it supported the deployment of an international force, possibly made up of NATO troops, as part of an eventual solution to the crisis. It had previously said it was "too early" to consider such a force.

The French minister said the fighting must stop before any foreign forces can be deployed.

"If there is no cease-fire, you cannot have an international force coming here," he said after meeting with Abbas in the West Bank.

British junior foreign minister Kim Howells, due to meet Livni and Abbas on Sunday, was also likely to try to push Israel into easing its offensive that has displaced more than a half million people and triggered warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Although Britain has largely aligned itself with Washington on the Middle East crisis, Howells took a rare swipe at American policy.

"I very much hope that the Americans understand what's happening to Lebanon -- the destruction of infrastructure, the death of so many children and so many people," he said on Saturday.

The European diplomatic efforts are unlikely to succeed until the United States changes its position and also presses for a cessation of hostilities.

Washington argues that a cease-fire can come only as part of a diplomatic package that sees the disarmament of Hizbullah, guarantees of Israeli security on its northern border and an end to what it says is Syrian and Iranian backing of Hizbullah. Both governments say they give the Shia movement only moral support.

Rice, who has said a cease-fire would be a "false promise," is due in Israel on Monday to meet Olmert as well as Abbas.

A Hizbullah ally said on Sunday that the militant group was ready to see the Lebanese government deal on its behalf in negotiations through a third party with Israel on a prisoner swap.

Israel rejected the offer, saying its two soldiers must be released before any talks can take place.

And Washington rejected a Syrian offer to open a dialogue over the Lebanon conflict.

"Syria doesn't need dialogue to know what they need to do," the US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said.

"They need to lean on Hizbullah to get them to release the two captured Israeli soldiers and stop the launch of rockets against innocent Israeli civilians."

 

[Neo]

UN observer injured in Lebanon fighting

TYRE (updated on: July 23, 2006, 18:02 PST): A UN military observer was seriously wounded on Sunday in a border village in southern Lebanon, apparently by Hizbullah fire during a clash with the Israeli army, a UN spokesman said.

"One unarmed UN military observer was seriously wounded by small arm fire inside a UN position in Marun al-Ras," Milos Strugar said in a statement.

"He has been evacuated to the nearest hospital in Israel," he said. "According to primary report, the fire came from Hizbullah during an exchange of fire" with the Israeli army."

There was no word on his nationality.

An Indian UNIFIL peacekeeper was seriously wounded by Israeli bombardment on southern Lebanon on July 16.

Israeli forces have been inside southern Lebanon in the Marun al-Ras area for the last four days where they have been engaged in fierce combats with the Lebanese militant group Hizbullah.

UNIFIL has monitored the volatile Israeli-Lebanese border for the past 28 years

 

[Bull]

Anybpdy should be **** to say israel hasnt violtaed humanitrian laws.

 

[melb4aust]

The real story behind is that Israel wanted to have NATO's forces in Labenone. Israel itself doesnt wanted to remain in Lebanon as there is lot of fear of losing too many soldiers. Thats why they are pushing NATO to send their forces in their who could control or push hizbullah out from labenone.

It is another political game they are trying to play by human rights as a weapon. There is alot of pressure as they also have to control Gaza border side.

 

[Bull]

There is alot of pressure as they also have to control Gaza border side.

Israeli police would be enough to guard gaza border from those pathetic palestineans.