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"The worst three nights of my life"

1 August 2006


What was supposed to be a short visit to her parents’ house in south Lebanon soon turned into a nightmare for Maysoon Arbid. Just hours after arriving, the conflict began and she found herself trapped and fearing for her life. “I left Beirut with my two small nephews, aged six and four, to join my parents in my village Ainata, near Bint Jbeil. Half an hour after we passed the Qasmiye bridge towards our home, it was bombed. Fighting had just started. I spent the worst three nights of my life in Ainata. The first night was a nightmare as the bombs echoed in our isolated house on top of the hill. The next day, we moved to another house closer to the centre, as we felt safer with people around us” 

Poverty, fear and defiance keep southerners at home

1 August 2006


Despite intense Israeli air strikes in the south of Lebanon and repeated Israeli warnings to leave the area, there are still thousands of Lebanese in the territory adjoining the Israeli-Lebanese border. “It is not easy to abandon your home not knowing when you will return,” said Maysoon Arbid, who managed to flee Ainata village, near Bint Jbeil, in south Lebanon last week. According to the Lebanese government, as many as 600,000 people have fled the south in the past 20 days, creating a displacement crisis in the north and in the capital, Beirut. 

Yousuf was no longer there

Rami Almeghari Maghazi refugee camp 1 August 2006


“Yousef, Yousef, Yousef!” was how Aziza Mughari of the Alburaij refugee camp first reacted when news of her son’s death spread in her local community. Her son was being treated in the Israeli hospital of Ekhelof in Tel Aviv for critical injuries he sustained during an Israeli army incursion into the nearby refugee camp of Maghazi almost ten days ago. Because the hospital is inside Israel, Aziza was not able to visit her dying son. “Who will bring me my medicine, who will do errands for me? Son, where are you? I don’t believe you are dead, they are liars,” Aziza, a sick mother, called again on Yousef, but Yousef was no longer there. 

Woman and Child Killed by IOF Bombardment in Beit Hanoun

1 August 2006


PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 13:40 on Tuesday, 1 August 2006, IOF stationed to the east of the northern district of the Gaza Strip fired several artillery shells at the Nada Buildings area, west of Beit Hanoun. One of the shells fell near building no. 8. Shrapnel from the shell killed the child Aref Ahmad Abu Qeida (14). The child was in his grandfather’s house near building no. 8. Three other civilians were injured, including a woman from Rafah who was visiting relatives in the area. This woman, Mervat Fayez Abu Sharikh (24), was pronounced dead one hour after reaching a hospital. 

Every time I think that things can't get worse, they do

Zena El-Khalil Beirut 1 August 2006


There is a black dust that is filling the air. We are breathing it in … constantly. It has settled on my clothes, in my kitchen — it is everywhere. We are guessing it is from the Jiye power station that was bombed. It is still on fire. It is the power station from which the oil spill originated from.Today I had my first experience at queuing for gas. The shortages have arrived. So many gas stations have shut down. The few that are left have long queues. I waited for 40 minutes, and when my turn came, I was give $10 worth only. I only have a few minutes left before the electricity gets cut. we are running on generator now and they usually turn it off at midnight. 

Four-year-old Qana survivor's night between the dead

Hanady Salman Beirut 31 July 2006


Three of my colleagues went to Tyre today. I will spare you the details of what they saw and wrote. There’s only one thing that I need to share with you. Saada went to Jabal Amel hospital where she found a four year old boy, Hassan Chalhoub, who had spent the previous night in the morgue between the dead. He had been sleeping next to his sister, six-year-old Zeinab, in the shelter in Qana. There with him were his mom and his dad, who’s confined to a wheelchair. Many of the people of Qana are survivors of the 1996 massacre, when 110 people were killed and more than 100 were injured when by Israeli raids on civilians who had sought shelter in a nearby UN base. Thus, many of the people of Qana have special needs. 

Photostory: Devastation at Qana

31 July 2006


Sunday, 30 July 2006, while US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Jerusalem to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a US-manufactured weapon was dropped by Israeli-manned fighter jets on a residential building in Qana, southern Lebanon. Over 50 civilians perished, most of them children. No arms were found in the building. The village was the site of another massacre ten years ago, when Israel struck a UN post sheltering civilians. That time, over 100 died. Human Rights Watch condemned the strike, and stated that responsibility “rests squarely with the Israeli military,” and emphasized that the “consistent failure to distinguish combatants and civilians is a war crime.” 

High Commissioner for Human Rights condemns killings of civilians in Qana

31 July 2006


Noting that Israel had warned the population of likely military action, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, underlined that while effective advance warning of attacks which may affect the civilian population must be given, this legal obligation does not absolve the parties to the conflict of their other obligations under international law regarding the protection of civilians. Arbour today said: “I strongly condemn the killing of dozens of civilians, among whom a very high proportion were children, resulting from the shelling by the Israeli Forces of a residential building in which civilians were sheltering in Qana, South Lebanon, on 30 July. 

Two Israeli tank rounds hit UNIFIL position in Hula

31 July 2006


According to UNIFIL reports, there were no incidents of rocket firing or aerial bombardment in the UNIFIL area of operations since 4am this morning, except in the area of At Tayyabah in the eastern sector, where two air strikes were reported around 10am. It seems that IDF forces maintain their presence in two locations inside Lebanese territory, in the general area of Marun Al Ras in the central sector, and the general area of Kafr Kila in the eastern sector. It was reported that some of the IDF forces withdrew from the area of Marun Al Ras yesterday evening. The situation in these areas is relatively quiet this morning, and there are no reports of serious fighting. 

Addressing Security Council, Lebanese minister urges steps to end violence

31 July 2006


Addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council today, Lebanon’s acting Foreign Minister urged an immediate series of steps aimed at quelling the violence there, while Israel’s representative said his country was acting in self-defence and called for the authorities in Beirut to take control of their entire nation. Tarek Mitri decried the recent unabated attacks by Israel and asked for an international investigation into the “crime of Qana” where over 50 civilians were killed this weekend. “The spilled blood of the children in Qana deserves more, much more, than expressions of regret.” Israel should withdraw its troops behind the Blue Line and the displaced should return to their villages.