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Lebanon: Impact of hostilities on UNIFIL troops

19 July 2006


Heavy exchanges of fire continued along the length of the Blue Line with increased intensity. Hezbollah continued to fire rockets from various locations in the south, and there was intensified shelling and aerial bombing of the south by the IDF. The continued hostilities are taking a heavy toll on the civilians caught in the cross fire, and on the civilian infrastructure. Two IDF ground incursions inside Lebanese territory were reported today. In the early morning, six tanks, one bulldozer, and two graders moved into the area south of the village of Alma Ash Shab, close to the Mediterranean coast, and withdrew to the Israeli side after a couple of hours. 

Government of United Kingdom: Statement on developments in the Middle East

19 July 2006


The UK is gravely concerned by the escalating crisis in Lebanon. Not only does it pose a serious threat to the relationship between the Israeli’s and Lebanese governments but it also threatens the wider security of the region, and it is also causing huge harm to the civilian populations with casualties mounting on both sides. We offer our condolences to the Governments of Lebanon and Israel for the losses they have suffered and to the families of all those affected. The UK is committed to helping resolve this crisis. 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Protection of civilians and accountability

19 July 2006


United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today expressed grave concern over the continued killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory and called for accountability for any breaches of international law. The High Commissioner recalled that parties to a conflict have the obligation to exercise precaution and respect the principle of proportionality in all military operations so as to prevent unnecessary suffering among the civilian population. 

UN health rights expert: Independent enquiry into alleged war crime in Gaza

19 July 2006


As the world’s attention is drawn to the widening conflict in Lebanon, it is extremely important that the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is closely monitored and urgently addressed. The depth of this crisis cannot be understood without grasping the acute dependency and vulnerability of the population of Gaza. Amongst the most densely populated place in the world, Gaza has been occupied by Israel for almost 40 years. Its population of 1.4 million, most of whom are refugees, remains very heavily dependent on Israel, as well as the donor community. 

Atrocities in the Promised Land

Kathleen Christison 19 July 2006


Words fail; ordinary terms are inadequate to describe the horrors Israel daily perpetrates, and has perpetrated for years, against the Palestinians. The tragedy of Gaza has been described a hundred times over, as have the tragedies of 1948, of Qibya, of Sabra and Shatila, of Jenin — 60 years of atrocity perpetrated in the name of Judaism. But the horror generally falls on deaf ears in most of Israel, in the U.S. political arena, in the mainstream U.S. media. Those who are horrified — and there are many — cannot penetrate the shield of impassivity that protects the political and media elite in Israel, even more so in the U.S., and increasingly now in Canada and Europe, from seeing, from caring. 

Gaza Strip Situation Report No. Seven

18 July 2006


The Palestinian death toll now stands at 100 (including 16 children) since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched military operations inside the Gaza Strip on 28 June. The number of Palestinians injured has climbed to 300. Two Israelis in Sderot were injured by Palestinian homemade rockets. Since 28 June, one IDF soldier has been killed and twelve Israelis have been injured. Since 28 June, Palestinians fired 177 homemade rockets towards Israel. The IDF fired over 1,000 artillery shells into Gaza, and the Israeli air force conducted 168 aerial bombings on Gaza. 

Cruising out of Beirut

Patrick McGreevy Beirut 19 July 2006


In the early evening, we watched from our apartment balcony as a huge white cruise ship glided past west Beirut toward Cyprus. Aboard were several groups of evacuees, including a number of US students from American University of Beirut. A few minutes later, another colossal cruise ship came by in the opposite direction; we heard it was a French ship that would be taking out more evacuees tomorrow. It looked like time for a Caribbean festival. At our apartment were gathered a group of about 10 AUB faculty and staff, and one young Filipino woman. The phone rang: it was an AUB official who needed immediate answers. The time had arrived: each of us had to decide whether to stay or go. 

The racist subtext of the evacuation story

Jonathan Cook 19 July 2006


On Tuesday, when at least 35 Lebanese were killed, we had the BBC’s Ben Brown in Beirut giving a blow-by-blow account of every facet of the evacuation of foreign nationals in general and British nationals in particular. If anyone doubted the racism of our Western media, here it was proudly on display. The BBC apparently considers their Beirut reporter’s first duty to find out what meals HMS Gloucester’s chef will be preparing for the evacuees. Lebanese and Palestinian civilians die unnoticed by the Western media while we learn of onboard sleeping arrangements on the ship bound for Cyprus. 

Day 6 of the siege: Notes on solidarity, Hezbollah, and Israel

Rasha Salti Beirut 18 July 2006


Most of Beirut is in the dark. I dare not imagine what the country is like. Today was a relatively calm day, but like most calm days that come immediately after tumultuous days, it was a sinister day of taking stock of damage, pulling bodies from under destroyed buildings, shuttling injured to hospitals that have the capacity to tend to their wounds more adequately. The relative calm allowed journalists to visit the sites of shelling and violence. The images from Tyre, and villages in the south are shocking. 

From Damascus

Leila Buck Damascus 19 July 2006


Every time you hear that Israel is “minimizing civilian casualties” with “surgical strikes”, know that the south of Lebanon and everyone in it, as well as those in the southern suburbs of Beirut, are decimated and continue to be bombed many times daily. Also know that Lebanon is the size of Rhode Island, or Connecticut - which one, I forget exactly - it’s small. So while bombing every bridge and road in and out of the country plus every port may seem to be better than targeting civilians, it is a slower and more insidious kind of targeting - a complete and knowing crippling of an entire nation’s ability to get help to those wounded or supplies to people who need them.