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Israel: Investigate attack on civilians in Lebanon

16 July 2006


On Saturday, a number of families fled the southern Lebanese village of Marwahin after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned them to evacuate ahead of a threatened attack. On the road leading to the coast through Chamaa, however, Israeli missiles struck a convoy of the civilians. Maps of southern Lebanon show this road to be the only direct route for escaping the dangerous border area. A photographer for an international news agency who arrived at the scene two hours after the attack told Human Rights Watch that he saw a white van and a passenger car completely destroyed. He counted 16 dead bodies. 

Disproportionate number of British journalists in Israel versus Lebanon

18 July 2006


The Daily Mail’s Richard Pendlebury reported on 15 July: “Visiting the towns in northern Israel I could understand the sense of vulnerability they feel.” He added that “all I can report is what I have seen on the Israeli side of this seemingly intractable, ongoing conflict …” However, the Guardian’s Middle East editor Brian Whitaker wrote on 17 July: “Viewed from Lebanon, the TV coverage of destruction in Israel, in terms of the amount and the tone, seems wildly out of proportion compared with what is happening across the border.” 

ICRC Bulletin No. 1 - Lebanon/Israel (12-18 July 2006)

18 July 2006


According to official sources, more than 650 people have been wounded and more than 180 killed in Lebanon since the conflict broke out on 12 July. The south is the area that has witnessed the most violence and casualties but the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa valley and the north have suffered as well. More than 100 villages and towns have been targeted in sea, land or air attacks (or a combination thereof). Although a great many people are fleeing the south and the southern suburbs of Beirut, their numbers are impossible to estimate at this time. Displaced persons are mostly staying in overcrowded schools and outdoor parks. Moreover, tens of thousands of people have crossed into Syria. 

UN Security Council must adopt urgent measures to protect civilians

18 July 2006


“The past few days has seen a horrendous escalation in attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. Yet the G8 leaders have failed conspicuously to uphold their moral and legal obligation to address such blatant breaches of international humanitarian law, which in some cases have amounted to war crimes.” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East Programme. “Beyond the blame game exercise, what is needed are concrete proposals for urgent action to stop the killings of civilians in both Lebanon and Israel.” 

Lebanon: Continuation of hostilities between IDF and Hezbollah

18 July 2006


Two IDF ground incursions inside Lebanese territory were reported yesterday. Three PUMA armored vehicles entered approximately one kilometer inside Lebanese territory in the area of Ras Naqoura on the Mediterranean coast yesterday afternoon, and withdrew to the Israeli side after a while. IDF forces also operated on the Lebanese side of the divided village of Ghajar. They demolished two Hezbollah outposts on the northern edges of the village, and set up a barrier of cement blocs along parts of the northern boundary of the Lebanese side of the village. Exchange of fire was reported during this operation. 

Lebanon: Hostilities between IDF and Hezbollah

17 July 2006


There is a pressing need for UNIFIL to secure supplies of diesel fuel, water, and food to its positions throughout the area. Despite repeated requests addressed to the Israeli Defense Forces Command by the UNIFIL Force Commander, General Pellegrini, we have received no response to ensure the safe passage of logistic convoys to re-supply UNIFIL positions. UNIFIL was able to dispatch two supply convoys on 15 July, but the situation at the UN positions remains critical. UNIFIL notified the IDF today that we will dispatch a logistics convoy to re-supply our positions in order to ensure the continuation of UNIFIL’s vital functions on the ground. 

A Beiruti's drawn diaries: "How can I show sound in a drawing?"

Mazen Kerbaj Beirut 18 July 2006


The following drawings are by Mazen Kerbaj, a Beiruti comic author, painter, and musician who was prompted to start his “Kerblog” after “two years of laziness” when Israel began to bomb his country and city. With the dark humor characteristic of his blog entries, he writes, “I’ll begin then by thanking Israel, who burned in one night two years of efforts to avoid getting myself trapped in this adventure. Good job guys! Especially the airport party. And the bridges. No way to leave the country. Nothing else to do than this blog.” His entries onto Kerblog are a heady mix of despair, wit, and the determination to persevere. 

Another day of devastation and destruction

Zeina Zaatari Saida 17 July 2006


As I write this message, the southern suburbs of Beirut are still under attack with air raids from Israeli warplanes and villages in the south on the border are all under heavy artillery. Tens of buildings of eight and ten story height are all leveled to the floor. The aim is to empty the area of any inhabitants and supposedly be able to isolate the resistance fighters. In Beirut, they bombed the port once again targeting the wheat containers also killing on individual. In the Beqaa they bombed a plant of dairy products called Liban Lait, a gas station, and a school. 

Not a spontaneous response

Zeina Zaatari Saida 16 July 2006


Yesterday was focused on killing civilians in South Lebanon, Baalbek and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel continuously bombed homes and buildings. One set of bombings killed over 20 people when Israel targeted a twelve story building in Tyre (Sour) and leveled its top four stories. Another near Jibsheet village targeted people’s homes. Reports of bombs with ugly gas smell were confirmed by the Lebanese army, indicating that the IDF may be using phosphorous and other types of bombs outlawed internationally. At the Jieh power plant that Israel bombed on July 16, fuel tanks are on fire. 

Notes from northern Israel: In the line of media fire

Jonathan Cook 18 July 2006


Nazareth hit the international headlines for the first time in this vicious war being waged by Israel mostly on Lebanese civilians. Reporter Matthew Price, corsetted in a blue flak jacket in Haifa, told BBC viewers that for the first time Hizbullah had targetted Nazareth late on Sunday. “Nazareth is a mostly Christian town”, he added. Before the strike close to Nazareth late on Sunday night, several Arab villages in the north had been hit by Hizbullah rockets trying to reach these factories. The BBC saw the need to mention these attacks nor the fact that “mostly Muslim” villages had been hit. So why did the strike against Nazareth — and its mistaken Christian status — became part of the story for the BBC?